


Paint It Black

by P_Artsypants



Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series)
Genre: Amnesia, Comedy, Crazy, Gen, Insanity, Psychosis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-09
Updated: 2014-04-08
Packaged: 2017-12-31 23:38:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 28,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1037750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/P_Artsypants/pseuds/P_Artsypants
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Robin disappeared three months ago. Now, Jump City's crime rate is mysteriously being taken care of by a normal, albeit strange, teenage boy who goes by the name Black. As the Titans befriend this lunatic, they begin to see a relation between him and their missing leader. Will they be able to find Robin, or will Black turn them all insane as himself? Actually, contains NO OC.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

Robin had been missing for three months. One day he went out on patrol, and never came back. There was no evidence or clues to his whereabouts. Just a message on the communicators. "I have a lead. I'll be home later." His picture appeared on the news for weeks, the population frightened that the leader of the team was gone.

They had looked everywhere for the teen, even going so far to reach out to Batman in Gotham city, but to no avail. The powerless hero was gone, perhaps for good, and the town seemed like such a darker place.

Outside the tower, the titans did their best to pretend that they could still handle themselves without him. But back at home, things were different. They missed him.

"Sure he was a jerk sometimes, and he was obsessive, and he put hero work before us, and was a brutal trainer..."

"Get on with it Beast Boy."

"Oh, well, it doesn't feel the same without him. Besides all that other stuff, he still tried to make us all work together as a team. He acted like we were his family. He looked out for all of us..."

"Beast Boy, I honestly didn't think you'd ever miss him."

"Sure we never really saw eye to eye, but we were friends...besides, he liked my cooking."

"He just said that to be nice." Raven snarked.

Beast Boy wilted.

"Man, we all miss him." Cyborg put his hand on his shoulder.

One thing was for sure, even Raven was out more often then Starfire was. The young princess was hurt the most by his disappearance. He was her counselor, her guide to this world that she didn't understand. He was her best friend, and she loved him very much.

It was Cyborg's turn for patrol duty. Normally, he'd drive the T-car around and ask some questions to people, check in on businesses, but tonight, he just wanted some fresh air. He parked downtown, in a safer place for his precious car, and then walked to a less then friendly part of town.

The streets were not so crowded. Especially of late. Something had changed in Jump city, and basic run of the mill criminals were afraid to get caught by something. Maybe they thought Robin was still out there.

He heard a struggle in an alleyway. He turned to see a smaller, much younger kid deck a thug in the face. Impressed, Cyborg stayed hidden for a moment as the kid riffled through the thug's pockets, and took some money.

"Hey kid, that's stealing." He announced, coming into view.

The kid turned to look at him. He was wearing all black. Black jeans with large holes, black boots that came up to his knees, a black zip up over a black v-neck tee. His hands had fingerless gloves. The kid shook his shaggy locks from his face and stared at the teen with wild blue eyes and an eerie smile.

"Do you need this?" He held out the bills in a fist.

"No. Put it back."

"It's drug money!" The kid shouted, suddenly becoming defensive. He clutched the money to his chest. "When he comes to, he'll just use it to get high or buy a prostitute! I need it to eat!"

"Okay, calm down...but did you have to take him out?"

"That's what heroes do." The kid said, his smile widening.

Cyborg shivered. Something about this boy freaked him out. "What's your name kid?"

"My name is Black, but you can call me Black. I really don't remember my name, or much of anything, but that's what they call me."

"Well, I can see why..." He surveyed the kid's duds. "Listen...you can't just go around and beat people up. Even if they are selling drugs. That's what we're for. Are you an orphan?"

"I don't know."

"How do you not know?"

Black chuckled and pointed to his head. "I gots some screws loose." Then he did a couple of flips before landing right in front of Cyborg, his foot in the air. "Nice to meet you."

Cyborg shook his foot. "Um yeah, just...watch yourself kid."

Black flipped backward. "Who are you supposed to be?" He cocked his head.

"You don't know?" The robotic teen asked, perplexed.

The homeless boy shook his head.

"I'm Cyborg, current leader of the Teen Titans."

"Teen Titans? What? Is that a gang or something?"

Cyborg laughed. "No, we're a band of superheroes. You know, protecting the city from evil villains?"

"Oh." Black crouched. "Well, that's what I do! Am I a super hero?"

"I wouldn't say that…" he scratched his head. "What you do…you're like a vigilante, not exactly legal…since you don't have permission from the city…"

The boy looked mortified. "You have to have permission to do good around here?!"

Cyborg grimaced, "no…just…" he sighed. "You can't go around beating people up. Okay?"

Black pouted. "I don't understand. I'm only hurting the bad people."

"And who are you to judge whether their good or not? That's not your job."

"And so what's going to happen if I stop taking out the pimps and drug dealers? Are you going to? Are the police?"

Cyborg felt hurt. "Well, the police can't do anything without solid evidence, and we…are busy with emergencies."

Black stuck out his tongue. "So, therefore, I believe I should be able to tell with these punks. After all…" he kicked the ground. "Got nothin' else better to do."

Cyborg rubbed the back of his head. "Look kid, ever heard of Batman? The Dark Knight in Gotham city?"

"Nope."

"Well, he started out just like you. And now he's one of the greats! If you don't tell anyone we're allowing this, we won't stop you. Okay?"

Black jumped and punched the air. "Home skillet! I'm going to be like Ratman!"

"Batman." he corrected. 

"I will protect this city! Agent Black! Over and out!" He stuck his fists out in front of him and ran away, making 'whoosh' noises.

"What a weird kid."

Beast Boy had patrol the next night. He was working the east side, the ghetto. He was looking in windows, in the form of a cat, for suspicious activities.

Suddenly, a hand nabbed him and lifted him off the ground. "A green cat. A blue rat. A polka dotted purple bat!"

Beast Boy shifted back into a human and fell out of his capture's grasp. "Dude!" He came face to face with a boy, maybe a year older then him, hanging upside down from a fire escape. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Hanging out!" He cleaned his ear with his pinky. "I'm on patrol."

"Riiiigghhhhhttt..."

"Why are you green? Did someone add green die to your soap? Are you an artist? I bet your favorite color is green. What are you doing here?"

Beast Boy blinked. "Are you high?"

"I'm higher then you are...I'm probably taller then you, too."

Beast Boy face palmed. "Have you had any drugs or alcohol this evening?" He tried to say politely.

"Nope...I had a cheeseburger and a Dr. Pepper at six o'clock. But that..." He rolled up his sleeves and looked at the various watches on his arms. "...Was a very long time ago."

Beast Boy was a little creeped out. "Um...what's your name?"

"My name is Black, but you can call me Black. But I don't like black, I like red. And green. And sometimes yellow, when I feel like it. Black's not a bad color, it just is dark. Scary things hide in the dark. Like clowns." He blanched.

"Well, I'm Beast Boy, of the Teen Titans. Nice to meet you."

"Are you friends with that really tall metal-y guy?"

"Yeah, he's my best friend. Did you see him?"

"Yep, I saved him from a mugger, last night," Black said proudly, his face turning red from hanging upside down.

"You saved him?"

"Naawwww, I took down the mugger though. The robot man was just there. He tried to tell me to be stop fighting crime, psh. I'm the hero!"

Beast Boy sighed. It was always sad to see someone trapped in a hero fantasy. "Hey Black, um...feeling like...letting me join you on your 'patrol'?"

Black put a finger to his chin. "I don't know. You kinda cramp my style. If you were yellow instead of green, then we could be like that Wiz Khalifa song, you know?" He did a very bad rendition of a beat box and sang with a very uncharacteristic bass. "Black an' yellow, black an' yellow, black an' yellow…the kids these days like to futterwacken to."

"Futter-what?" 

"Dance, you fool! Dance!"

Beast Boy shook his head, "Just for tonight, let me join you. I'm patrolling anyways."

"Well…Sure. But let's spilt up. You scream like a girl when you get attacked, and I'll come save you. TA-TA!" He flipped up on the ladder he dangled from and effortlessly twisted himself into the air and up to the roof.

"Weird kid."

Then Raven was up. She never minded patrol. Sure, there are lots of things she would have rather been doing, but it was usually peaceful and quiet.

Usually.

She hovered over a rooftop of a church. "Hello," said a deep voice. "So glad you could make it. I've been expecting you."

Raven turned to see a young man perched on a gargoyle, smiling wickedly at her. Suddenly, he fell off and kicked his legs in the air, laughing jovially.

"Your face!" He shouted. "You should have seen it."

"Kid, you're messing with the wrong girl."

"Je suis désolé, mademoiselle, je ne voulais pas vous vexer!" He hopped up and bowed cordially.

"I don't speak French."

"Is that your natural hair color?" He asked, tilting his head.

"Yes..." She exasperated.

"Purple's a nice color. Usually purple and blue clash, but you pull it off."

"Uh thanks? What are you doing up here?"

"Chatting with some friends. Right Hugo?" He patted the gargoyle. Then he laughed. "He's such a card!"

"Right, have you seen anything...bad happening around here?"

"Oh, like the guy that almost raped that little girl in the alley?" He pulled out a candy bar that was already opened. "Took care of it. Did you know that Duct tape is the greatest invention ever? Anyways, the little girl, Annie, is in the church with the Padre, along with half of my candy bar." He looked at the wrapper dismally.

Raven looked at him in shock. "What's your name?"

"My name is Black, but you can call me Black. Despite my name, I'm white. And this," he held up the candy bar. "This is milk chocolate. Not that I don't like dark chocolate...actually, I don't like dark chocolate. White chocolate is okay, but yes. What was I saying?"

Raven shook her head, this kid was giving her a headache, and yet, he was extremely interesting. "Where do you get the money?"

"Money?"

"Yeah, to buy the candy?"

"Oh! I don't know."

"...you don't know..." She droned.

"Well duh! If I knew where I got it, why would I be spending it on candy?" He bit into the chocolate. "You ask some strange questions."

That was it, she closed her eyes and prepared to enter his mind. "Azarath...metrion...zinth-"

"Ohh! Are you casting a spell? On a church? Are you a bad guy? Do I need to beat you up?"

"No. I'm going to read your mind."

"Okay! What am I thinking about?!"

Raven shook her head to rid the images of pink fluffy bunnies. "Look! Knock it off! Who are you, really?!"

"I told you, I'm Black, hero of Jump city! And if you don't mind, you've been extremely rude." He curled his lips and scrunched his nose. "Who. ARE. YOU?" He spoke with a english accent and excessively rolled his 'R's. 

"They call me Raven." She pulled the hood of her cloak over her face.

"Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary, over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore…"

"Oh no…" She covered her face.

"While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, as of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. 'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door - Only this, and nothing more.'"

"Stop."

"Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December, and each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor. Eagerly I wished the morrow; - vainly I had sought to borrow from my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Lenore - For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore -Nameless here for evermore."

"Seriously, do you think I don't know this whole thing!?"

"And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain, thrilled me - filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before; So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating, 'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door - Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; -This it is, and nothing more,'"

"One more word, and you will speak-.."

"Quoth the Raven- 'Nevermore''

She just pinched the bridge of her nose. "Clever."

He shined his knuckles. "Now, if you will excuse me, I need to beat up a janitor!" He jumped off the roof. Raven stared back in shock. "Oh, by the way, he's not really a janitor, that's just his cover. Agent Black! Protecting the peace! Away ho!"

"Weirdo."

Back at the tower, Raven came into the common room where the boys were watching a movie. Starfire looked dismally out the window. Raven sighed and made some tea.

Cyborg paused the movie. "Hey Raven, how did it go?"

"It was fine until I ran into some weird kid. Called himself Black. He didn't give me any trouble, just a headache."

"Wait, teenage boy? Dressed in all black? Did he say he was a hero?"

"Dude! I totally saw that kid!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "Totally nuts!"

"You saw him too?" Raven asked, eyebrows raised.

Starfire looked in interest.

"Yeah, he beat up some punk in the narrows." Cyborg explained.

"I saw him in an alleyway."

"I met him at a church."

"What an odd coincidence that you would all run into the same person." Starfire mused as she came over.

"Strange thing is, I could have sworn I've met him before." Cyborg scratched his head. "He seemed so familiar."

Raven and Beast Boy nodded. "Very familiar. Who knows? You might get to meet him next, Star."

It happened at the docks. Starfire had just finished staking out the pier, where deals often happened. There were none tonight.  
"Has anyone ever told you that you're pretty?" A familiar voice spoke. Starfire, in her excitement, turned around, expecting her best friend, but instead a young man at the same age was lying like a board. "They should take a picture of you and put it in an art museum." He stated, staring at the sky.

"Oh, thank you." She blushed.

"What? Oh no, I was talking about the moon."

Starfire frowned.

"You're picture would go in the Louvre. And they would have to take down the Mona Lisa."

She blushed again. "Thank you."

"You don't thank someone for a compliment like that." She opened her mouth to question him, but shut it instead. "Although, I don't think you ever cut me off or made it like it never happened and that we were nothing. Maybe I needed your love, and understandably you treat me like a stranger but that just feels so rough. No, I don't think you would stoop so low to have your friends collect your records and then change your number. Guess that I don't need that though. You just remind me of somebody that I used to know."

"Oh?" She asked, hovering next to him. "What was she like?"

"I don't know! I used to know her! I'm pretty sure she was beautiful though, and I think I might have loved her. Maybe I still love her."

Starfire examined the boy's clothes. "Are you...Black?"

"That is extremely racist of you."

"I meant your name."

"Oh...Yep, but you can call me Black. I was taking a break from my patrol. Being a hero is hard business."

"You are a hero?" She asked incredulously.

"I'm undercover."

"You seem...odd."

"Only to normal people. Tell me, are you normal?"

"I don't think so...I am not of Earth after all."

"An alien! Gadzooks! Can you fly? Do you have super strength? Can you shoot lasers from your eyes? What's your favorite color? Where do you reside? Are you allergic to carrots? Will you be my friend? Can I kiss you?" He sat up.

"Yes, yes, yes, orange, titans tower, no, of course, and no."

He leaned closer.

"I believe I said you could not kiss me."

"I'm not gonna kiss you."

"What do you call this then?"

"Really close talking."

She pulled away. "Um, will you please tell me your name?"

"I don't know it."

"But-"

"I'm a psychopath." He smiled.

Starfire was unnerved. "Um, are you going to kill me?"

"Psh, no." He slapped himself. "Quiet! You'll scare her away!" He batted his eyes at her and smiled.

"I will be doing the leaving now..." She got up to fly off, but Black grab her arm.

"Please don't go, I promise I won't hurt you. I was only kidding." He pouted like a kicked puppy. "I don't have any real friends. Except this really tall robot guy, a green kid that can shape shift, and a very grumpy mind reader with purple hair."

"Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Raven!"

"You know them?"

"Yes, they are my best friends."

"No! They're my best friends!"

"Black, we can share friends."

"That sounds like a reasonable deal. Your eyes remind me of grass."

Starfire giggled. This kid was bizarre.

"Do you have a name?" He puzzled.

"Yes, my name is Starfire."

"Geez, I didn't ask what your name was, just if you had one!"

"Oh, my apologies?"

"Your welcome." He did a hand stand and walked around. "It's a nice name though. Reminds me of...toothpaste."

"The paste for teeth?"

"I'm allergic to carrots. They make my tummy feel icky. But sometimes I can eat them when they're in soup. Just kidding, I've never had carrots in soup."

"Do you have a home?"

"I live in a hat. I'm not a rabbit though, my ears are too short and I can't eat carrots, as stated previously."

"What do you mean you live in a hat?"

"There's an old hat warehouse on the south side of town, I live in the big ol' hat on top with my pet pigeon. I named him Frankie 'cause he doesn't like chocolate."

"I have a pet worm named Silkie." Starfire smiled.

"Oh! Cause he can paint?"

"Uh..." Starfire was definitely lost in this kid's logic.

"Welp, I best be leaving. Gots to find me a criminal." He did a triple backflip and landed on his feet. "Boobies, weenies, and underwear! Sometimes I'm naked but I don't care! Agent Black, over and out!" And he took off running.

"What a bizarre young man..."


	2. Chapter 2

"So?" Beast Boy asked, a grin on his features.

"I met him. He seems...strange. I wonder if there is something wrong with him."

"Of course there is!" Beast Boy shouted. "The kid's living a delusion! He's totally Schizophrenic!"

"Where's your degree in Psychology?" Cyborg asked.

Raven chimed in. "I could not read his mind when I saw him. He's too...random?"

"Random? More like utterly out of control! He must have gotten brain damage or something!"

"Like you?" Raven quipped.

Beast Boy didn't skip a beat. "I don't doubt I have brain damage from all the fights I've been in, but there's no way you can compare us."   
"I will agree and say that Black is very strange. I am concerned for him though. He told me he lives in the large hat on top of the old warehouse in the south side of town." Starfire added.

"He says he has money, but he doesn't know where he gets it from."

Cyborg scratched his chin. "Maybe we should ask him to stay with us. I mean, we have a extra space now."

Starfire stood up in anger. "Are you trying to say you want to replace Robin?!" 

"No! No! No!" Cyborg held his hands up in defense. "I would never replace Rob! I'm just saying, he needs a lot of help and if we can at least get him off the streets, we should!"

There was a long pause as the team thought it over.

"Like Terra?" Beast Boy piped in.

"Yeah…"

The next evening, Black took his normal patrol. As he walked through town, he came across an electronic store and saw the news on one of the televisions. It showed five teenagers. Four of whom he recognized.

"There has been no news of the whereabouts of the Titans leader, Robin, since his disappearance. The team has issued a statement."

Starfire's face showed up on the screen, her expression grave. "Please, if you have any knowledge of his location, please let us know. We miss him a great deal. Not only was he our leader, but he was also our friend. There is a reward for his return, and if a criminal gives us a tip, will do our best to have their record cleaned up."

"Starfire?" He asked looking at the screen.

The newscaster continued. "While the rate of crime has gone up in Robin's absence, it seems our fair city is taking up the slack. Found outside of the police stations every night, have been bound criminals with a note of their crimes on their person. Maybe Robin is still out there, and just doesn't want the publicity."

"Robin?" Why did that name seem so familiar? Why did it make him so angry? Before he realized it, he had punched through the window. Passerby's looked at him in concern.

"Leave me alone!" He shouted, covering his face in his bloody hands.

He found himself back home when he finally calmed down. He took a breath and gathered his emotions. Looking in the skylight, he saw his friends facing a man in top hat.

"Surely this will not do!" He growled. He kicked in the window and rolled out of his landing. "You will not hurt my friends!"

"Black! Get out man!" Cyborg shouted.

"Oh, a pretend hero...how cute!" The odd magician spoke.

"I'm a real hero, BI-OTCH!"

"Oh yay..." Raven droned.

"Well, aren't you a strange fellow?" Mumbo raised his eyebrow.

"At least I don't look like a strange Smurf-Pinochino crossbreed." Black wiggled his eyebrow.

"And funny too…" Mumbo droned. "We can fix that though! ABRACADABRA!"

A silver zipper appeared on the teens face, replacing his lips. It zipped up tight and muffled sounds of frustration were heard instead.

"Now, what do you have to say about that, smart boy?"

Black put his hands on his hips and snapped his fingers in a 'Z'. Starfire cracked a smiled. 

"Enough with these distractions! ALACAZAM!" The magician started a flurry of spells; doves, cards, and rabbits started flying every direction. The Titans fought along with the now-mute teen. This was technically the first time they saw him in action…and they were pretty impressed. 

Mumbo, on the other hand, was freaked out, like most villains the lunatic went up against. He was unpredictable, and that horrific face he held during the whole fight…it was unnerving. 

In a moment of bravery, Mumbo casted a spell on Starfire, catching her in the air in a cocoon of vibrant scarves. He sent her crashing into a stack of boxes in the back of the warehouse. Anyone who knew the alien, knew she was fine. But Black didn't.

Almost immediately after the crash. Black screamed in protest, the zipper on his mouth ripped open. "NO!!!" A look of sheer anger scrawled across his face, his eyes alight with hatred. He ran full throttle at the magician, screaming.

Mumbo let out a girlish shriek and tried to shield himself. Black did a double front flip and came up underneath his arms, locking his knees round the man's neck. The boy turned his hips violently and threw Mumbo around, and cranked him down to the concrete.

Cyborg jumped into action when he heard his neck snap and him scream in pain. Mumbo laid on the ground, crying.

"You don't do that to a lady!" Black shouted in his face. "I don't care if you are fighting her, you don't do that!" 

Starfire, who had already recovered, grabbed Black by his shoulders and pulled him back. "I am fine, friend. Do not fret!"

"You are a very bad man!" Black spat at the magician. 

"P-please…I-I can't feel my legs…" After that attack, Mumbo had reverted back to his old man form. "Help me!" He grabbed Cyborg's arm. "I'll give up crime forever! Just-Just get him away from me!"

"What is you're problem?!" Beast Boy yelled at Black. "Don't you know anything?! You could have killed him! He's a thief! That's hardly worth the death sentence!"

"I'm sorry!" Black shouted with sarcasm. "But I thought my best friends' safety was most important!" Tears collected in his eyes. "But I guess I don't really have any friends!" He turned and ran out of the warehouse. 

"Wait! Black!" Starfire called.

"Later, Star! Mumbo needs medical attention!" 

The alien watched dismally as the night clad teen disappeared into the shadows. 

The paramedics came and left. Mumbo had officially retired from crime, well he had to, since he was now paralyzed. 

The team began to get in the car when Starfire looked up to the top hat atop the building.

"Coming Star?" Cyborg asked.

"No. I wish to talk to Black. I shall meet you all at home later."

Cyborg nodded at her request, and soon they were gone. Star floated up and hovered a few feet from the hat. 

On the very top, Black sat a lump. His hood covered his head, and he had his back to her. 

"Black?" She asked tenderly.

"Frankie died." He replied.

The Alien hovered over to look over the boy's shoulder. In his hands laid a pigeon, unmoving. "I am sorry. I can not imagine the feeling of losing a pet."

"It feels like I stepped on a lego." He sniffed. "Unforgiving." He stood up quickly and clutch the bird. "IT'S THE CIRCLE OF LIFE!" He then chucked the dead animal hard into a nearby building. "I rather enjoy a good round of Angry Birds." He dusted off his hands.

Starfire cleared her throat lowered to face him. "I want to thank you for standing up for me. When I came to this planet, I created a massive crater in the asphalt, and came out without a scratch. It will take a lot for something to hurt me." 

"Will I be sent to jail?" He asked, finally looking up at her with worry. 

She smiled tenderly. "No. Mumbo agreed to drop the charges as long as we didn't send him to jail."

"That is good." He rubbed his eyes. "I feel very icky."

"Are you ill?" She reached out and touched his forehead. 

"I felt like this after Green Boy yelled at me."

"Beast Boy." She corrected. 

"Yeah, him."

"I think you feel guilty." 

"Guilty?"

"It is the feeling one gets after they have done something they know is wrong. I think you are feeling upset with yourself. But, you didn't know, and it was an accident." 

"I'm insane." He stated. "I know. But I want to be a good insane. Not a bad insane. I was so close to being a murderer tonight. That scares me…more then clowns scare me." He nodded to indicate it was very serious.

"I think that is the sanest thing you've ever said to me." She smiled.

"You should smile more often. It gives me the goose pimples."

"Black, why don't you come back with me to the tower?" She took his hand. "We can help you. Maybe you can even remember who you used to be."

He shook his head. "No, no. I can handle myself. I like it here, in my hat. And I don't want to know who I was. He gives me nightmares that I don't want to have."

"I understand. I was hesitant to accept help when I came here. But, if you ever need anything, just let us know. I'm sure we'll be seeing much more of each other." 

He looked at himself. "Except I don't have any other clothes, so unless my shirt rips off, I don't think you'll see much more then this."

She giggled. "Have a nice evening, Black." 

He stared at her hard with his piercing blue eyes. His glance was calculating, unsure. "Star?" 

Her eyes widened. "Y-yes?" At that moment, she realized that she had forgotten about Robin, but focused on this boy instead. He seemed so familiar, so much like her dear friend. She felt like she had known him forever, but she had to remind herself that this was still just a stranger. 

He pursed his lips. "I've puzzled and puzzled until my puzzler was sore. And there's something about you that I've known from before."

"Is it the friend you told me about? The one you said you loved?"

"Maybe. But then again, what is love?"

Starfire blinked, not really knowing how to answer that.

"Baby don't hurt me." He bobbed his head.

She laughed, not really getting the reference. "Farewell, Black."

"Too-da-loo, Starfire."


	3. Chapter 3

It was a rainy afternoon. The alarms had not gone off yet that day, and the titans each collectively did their own thing. It was under a ring at the doorbell that got them attentive. 

"Someone visiting?" Beast Boy asked. 

"Don't know." Cyborg shrugged. "Let's go check it out."

The two teens walked down to the lobby. A curious Raven and Starfire following. Normally a guest wouldn't be that big of a deal, but since they lived on a island…it was a different matter. Cyborg opened the door to see a waterlogged punk. His black hair molded to his head and plastered to his face. His crescent smile still shone on his pale face. 

"Howdy ho! You know, it's quite a swim out here." 

"Black! Man, what are you doing here?!" 

"Dude, you SWAM here?" 

"Well, I was going to walk, but I'm not as gutsy as Peter." 

"Peter?" 

"You know...walked on the water to meet Jesus, then started sinking when he saw the storm...?" Black elaborated. "Well, I guess you guys never went to Sunday school!" 

"And you did?" Raven questioned, as he came in the tower.

"Psh, psh...psh." He flipped his hand. "What's a memory anyway?" 

"So to what do we owe this reception?" Star asked. 

"Well," he put his fists on his hips. "I leave for a few hours to do stuff, and come home to find my hat gone!" 

"You're hat gone?" Cyborg asked. 

"Oh, sorry. Let me rephrase that in a dialect you can understand." The boy violently shook his head, sending water drops everywhere. "Yo home dog, for real, my crib was tot's up in smoke, man." 

Cyborg raised his human eyebrow. "You should be glad I'm not easily offended."

"I hope the readers aren't either." He blanched. "Anyways, the ginger here," he pointed to Star, "said I could come to you guys if I needed anything. I think the constitutes as needing something." 

"But you didn't need to swim out here, we could have met you somewhere!" 

"And how would I contact you? Rob a bank?" He shrugged. 

Raven spoke up. "You're soaked." 

"Excellent observation, Sherlock!" He promptly sneezed. "Oh great googly-moogly! My brain just blew up!" 

"Let us get you into some dry clothes. You are becoming sick." 

"Now darling," he laughed. "I am already sick." 

They led him to the common room. "Huh, fancy-shmancy." He acknowledged. 

"Beast Boy, get some clothes for our guest. He looks about your size." 

The green teen gave a thumbs up and ran down the hall. 

"Whoa!" Black exclaimed as he ran to the window. "You can see everything!" He pressed his hands and face against the glass. 

"It was Robin's idea." Star proudly stated. "When the Gordanian ship crashed here, Cyborg thought it would most beneficial to convert it to a home. Robin conceptualized the design and the window overlooking the town."

There it was again. The unexplained anger over this simple name. Granted, there wasn't much that Black could explain in his head anyways. But this bothered him.

"Who's Robin?" He tilted his head.

The team simultaneously fell sad. "He was our leader." Cyborg stated.

"Our teacher, mentor, and coach." Raven added.

"And our dear friend." Star finished.

Black was puzzled still. Robin didn't sound like such a bad guy, what made him so angry? "I saw y'all talking' 'bout 'im on the flash box." 

"The what?"

"Flash box. You know, it's a box in a window that shows things on it, usually really depressing things that you don't want to see. Like commercials."

"Oh, you mean the television!" Starfire translated. She swiped the remote from the couch and flipped on one of the channels. The window sprang to life with a cooking show.

Black stared in awe. "THAT'S THE MOST BEAUTIFULEST THING I'VE EVER SEEN!" He attempted to hug it, but ended up sprawled out on the glass. 

The team smiled to themselves. 

"Alright Dude, I got some civvies you can borrow. It just took a little while to find some that didn't smell funny."

Black's attention was immediately away from the giant TV. "Excellent!" He walked over, taking off his jacket and his shirt. "Gimme." He reached out his hands and snapped them like crab claws.

"Black man, what happened to your arm?"

The strange boy looked at his arms. One was covered in watches, the other in cuts and blood. "Oh. I punched a window out because I was angry." He spoke nonchalantly.

"You better let us patch it up." Raven spoke up. "It could get infected."

He looked at his arm. "I already licked it. That's what I usually do when I get hurt." 

Beast Boy shook his head. "Animals are known to have lysosomes in their saliva, which aids the healing of wounds. Humans, however carry bacteria in their mouths that could infect the body." 

Raven looked surprised. "One of your rare moments of knowledge."

"When it comes to animals, I gots the knowledge."

Black was still looking at his arm. "I don't want to lose my arm," he pouted to Cyborg. "Fix my boo-boo."

The cybernetic teen laughed. "Okay, follow me to the medical lab."

As Black went towards the door, Starfire's eyes strayed to his back were she noticed something. Identifying it mere seconds later, she gave a shriek and then clapped her hands over her mouth.

"What is it Star?" Cyborg asked, startled. 

She shook her head in disbelief and pointed at Black. 

"Dude!" Beast Boy exclaimed when he saw it. 

"Oh no…" Raven followed.

Cyborg turned Black around to look at his back. "No way…"

"What? What is it? Is it a spider?! Get it off!"

Upon the teens flesh was a tattoo. Not any normal tattoo either, but of a big black 'S' with sharp curves. 

"Black, where did you get this tattoo?"

"Tattoo?" The boy asked, trying in vain to see his back. "I have no tattoo."

Raven spoke up. "I bet he got it before he lost his memory." 

"And I believe Slade made him lose it."

Black whipped around and looked a Starfire. "Say that name again."

"Slade?"

He nodded. "I know him, well, not personally, and not physically, and definitely not intimately. But I know him."

"How?"

"I…" the boy looked to the floor. "I think he's my dentist."

"Let's get you fixed up. We have a lot of questions for you."

In the medical lab, Black sat like a good little boy on the table, gently swinging his legs. Cyborg had a cotton ball and was disinfecting the multiple cuts. 

"Well, nothing too deep. It doesn't look like you'll need stitches." 

"One alien is enough trouble." Black mumbled to himself. 

"So." Raven stared at the boy. "When did you lose your memory?"

He scratched his head with his good arm. "Well, I didn't really, lose it…I just…misplaced it. I think I've been memory-less for a few months."

"Only a few months?" Cyborg raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"Or maybe it was few years, I'm not sure. But in all honesty, I have some fuzzy stuff from before then and I have dreams of what I think was my past life."

"What are the dreams like?"

"I would rather not talk about them…they make me not happy."

"What is the first memory you have?" Starfire asked.

He put a finger to his lips. "There are little things, dark and bloody and scary things…but I remember clearly waking up in a closet. Alone and NUDE."

"So you still don't know where the tat came from?" asked BB.

"I still don't know what you're talking about." 

"Here," Starfire took a piece a paper and drew the 'S' on it. "This is present on your back. It takes up the majority of it."

"It's Slade's mark." Raven elaborated. 

"Like a curse?!" Black jumped from the table, wiped his hands frantically on his pants, spun around in a circle and spat on the floor. 

"I'm afraid it is much worse then a curse." Raven spoke gravelly. "No doubt he's the reason you can't remember anything."

Black scrunched his nose. "I guess I owe him a thank you."

"What?" Cyborg squawked.

"Whomever I was in said past, is not this present person. And said present person is more pleasant to exist as then person in past."

"What?" They asked unanimously. 

"Me good now, no good before. Si?"

Raven's eyes narrowed as she looked over the strange boy. "Why don't you tell us a bit about yourself, Black?"

"What do you want to know?" He finally calmed down enough for Cyborg to finish wrapping his wounds.

"Just about you. Likes, dislikes, stuff like that."

"Well," he scratched his chin. "I like to pee in the rain."

They all simultaneously blinked. 

"Don't judge until you try." He wagged his finger. "I also enjoy fishing for golfballs, watching buildings burn, censoring offensive graffiti, and having happy thoughts while listening to sad music."

"Hobbies?"

"I like looking at old photographs at the library and trying to figure them out. Like, why was that man wearing a coat on such a nice day? Or, is that girl walking with her father? Or is she being kidnapped? Unanswered questions that only my fragmented mind can solve."

"There." Cyborg said, taping off the last bandage. "All done. Would you like something to eat?"

The boy looked up at the robot with wide, bright eyes. He clenched his fists and nodded excitedly. 

In the kitchen, the team watched as plateful after plateful was scarfed down by this puny little boy. He did look incredibly skinny to the four, but as he was homeless, they didn't think much about it. 

"More Grutchlog?" Starfire smiled hopefully.

He nodded only.

"Don't you want to know what you're eating?" Beast Boy asked, looking queazy.

"Why? It'll make a turd." He shoved a spoonful of black fuzzy goop into his mouth. 

After his meal, Raven threw out some bedding for him. "Here, you can sleep on the couch for now."

Black walked over to the round furniture, and ran his hand over it, marveling in it's softness. He took the bedding and draped it over, smoothing out the wrinkles. "It's like a cloud." He whispered to himself. 

"Why don't you get some sleep? Don't worry about the morning, just sleep as long as you need to." With that, the Titans left their new friend alone.


	4. Chapter 4

Robin. Black tossed and turned as that name reverberated in his head over and over.   
Robin. Who was he, anyway? He saw his picture, he knew his roles, and saw the respect his friends had for him. But still, who was this person? And why did his name make Black so angry.   
Robin. A stranger. Robin. A phobia. Robin. An enemy.   
Black saw no point in sleeping anymore that night. Sure, the couch was comfortable, and sure, the tower was warm and dry. To date, it was the most comfortable night he ever had (to his knowledge). But the more he slept, the more he dreamt. And the more he dreamt, the more memories came back.   
As Black rose and folded the sheets lent to him, he wondered why only bad memories came to him. People dying, crying, bleeding. Pain, sorrow...things you tend to try to forget first we're coming back first.   
He folded the sheets neatly and piled them on the end of the couch. It was the middle of the night, still dark in the tower. His eyes were keen to the dark, but the light glow from the numbers on the appliances in the kitchen helped a bit.   
Black's reasoning was, the titan's had taken him in out of the kindness of their hearts, the least he could do is keep from being a burden.   
A rather sane thought, don't you think?  
First though, since he was up and all alone, he decided to take care of himself. He changed into Beast Boy's borrowed clothes. He blanched at the purple stripes. Purple was not his color.   
Next, he allowed himself a tour of the tower. Some rooms he explored more then others; such as the medical room. He needed to get his Valium fix somehow.   
For each of the bedrooms, he took time to acknowledge whose was where. With Raven's, he poked his head in, saw the shadows and left. In Beast Boy's, he stepped in, got a whiff, and backtracked quickly. Cyborg's room was a bit more fun. Black tiptoed in, noticing the gauge on his computer. The tin man was charged up to 80% according to his screen.   
Black tinkered with some of the tools sitting on the workbench, but when one dropped and made a loud clang, he bolted from the room.   
Next was Starfire's. The boy peeped his head in the room, and when he saw no machines or demonic statues, and smelled no tofu armpit barf, he slid in. He liked Starfire for that; a comforting sort of normalcy in the tower. Ironically, the most normal room belonged to the alien. He acknowledged her Lacey white curtains, and the random stuffed animals around the room. But he was most interested in her, more over, how she slept. Her feet on her pillow and her hair draping over the end of the bed.   
"I wonder if that's comfortable." He mused.  
She stirred.   
Black hushed himself. He stared at her a bit longer and then moved on.   
Finally, his bedroom exploration was ended with Robin's room. He opened the door and blacked out.   
Morning rolled around with Raven first to wake up. She walked in the ops room, only to be utterly surprised. She expected the house guest to be still asleep on the couch, not cooking breakfast.   
"Good morning, Blackbird!"   
"Raven." She corrected.   
"But raven's don't sing in the dead of night."   
"And neither do I." She quipped.   
"Fair. Coffee?"   
"I'll stick to tea."   
Next, in came Cyborg. "Dude, what's that smell?"   
"Bacon, eggs, ham, fat, grease...what do you want?"   
"You made all of this?"   
"Well, it didn't poop out of thin air!"   
"Just as a heads up, Beast Boy doesn't eat meat."   
"That's why I made the tofu French toast up from the fridge."  
"A thousand points to hufflepuff."   
Speak of the devil, Beast Boy grunted and shuffled into the room. "'Mornin'"   
"Yo BB! Black made breakfast, and it is awesome!"   
"Off the hizzy," Black corrected.  
Out of nowhere, an ear shattering scream pierced through the air. It sounded like Starfire. The team rushed to the scene with Black in tow.   
They found her standing in the doorway of Robin's room. She got support from the now-bent frame. Tears were rolling down her face as she stared at the chaos of Robin's room.   
"Who would do such a thing?" She cried.   
"Dude..." Beast Boy fell awestruck as the other two were speechless. Black was silent.   
Robin's room had been ransacked. Bedding shredded, pillows ripped and spilling with feathers. His clothes from his neatly organized closet were flung all over the room. His bedside table was flipped and the lamp once upon it, was shattered.   
The team entered to more study the damage, while Black stayed were he was.   
"Robin's not going to be happy someone went through his room." Raven stated, using her powers to start cleaning up.   
"Indeed he will not." Starfire began to fold the uniforms.   
"But, we have to go through it to fix it." Beast Boy added.   
"He'll want it neat and orderly." Cyborg finished.   
Black looked on his new friends with sorrow. After making breakfast for them, they ended up having to clean up a mess he was responsible for. Yes, he was the one who caused the havoc. He bit his lip as he surveyed the room. He truly felt foreign and out of place. Even if he tried to believe otherwise, he was a burden to them. They didn't have a place to spare, Robin's place would never be open for him.   
And that only made him hate the boy more.   
Before leaving, however, he slipped past the teens over to the bedside table. On the floor laid a shattered picture frame. Black slipped the photo out, already knowing who was in it, and stuck it in his back pocket.   
"What about his office? Was that okay?" Cyborg asked.  
"You know I dislike entering that room." Star sighed. "I did not look."   
"I'll check." Raven volunteered, saving Star from the unpleasant task.   
Black decided to help, as unfavorable as it was. He picked up a pair of tights, matched it with a shirt and cape and put it in the closet.   
"You do not need to help Black." Starfire reasoned.   
"Yes I do." He silently stated.   
Raven came back into the room. "Nothing out of place. Even the dust is the same."   
"Good." Cyborg sighed. "Then whoever did this wasn't looking to gain intel on us."   
Raven eyeballed Black in scrutiny. He wiggled his fingers back in reply.   
"For the most part, it looks like most of the stuff wasn't really damaged. If you look, everything irreplaceable is intact." Beast Boy noted.   
"Except whatever was in this frame. It's empty now." Starfire spoke as she picked up the glass.   
"Could we watch the video footage for clues?" Raven asked.   
Black's eyes widened in trepidation.   
"No, no camera's in the room, remember?"   
Black sighed in relief. "What's with his traffic light color scheme?" He asked, breaking up the topic.   
Starfire answered with a small smile. "He once told me his uniform design was to pay honor to his parents. But he didn't explain much about it."   
"Come to think of it," Cyborg interrupted. "We don't really know much about Robin's past at all. Just, basic stuff."   
"Hmm, some friend." Black huffed. "I told you everything I know about me. Not purposefully keeping secrets, you know."   
Cyborg sighed and gripped his friend's shoulder. "We know Black, and we appreciate it."   
Just then, the alarm sounded.   
"Titans, go!" Cyborg shouted. The team burst into action.   
Black stood frozen in place. For a moment, he looked around, and then left, his mind reeling.   
The team returned four hours later, exhausted.   
"I hope our friend has not been too confused without us here."   
"Dude, he's always confused." Beast Boy elaborated.   
"Let's just hope he didn't set anything on fire."   
"I don't care what he did, I'm just starving!" With that, the door opened to the common room. Shocked, the teens stood stock still at the doorway.   
Hundreds upon hundreds of paper cranes littered the floor, the table and miraculously hung from the ceiling. Black laid in the middle of the room, flat on his face.   
"Dude, what are doing?" Beast Boy asked, amusement in his voice.   
"Waiting for you guys to come home." He answered, not looking up.   
"Well, we're home."   
Black jumped to his feet, beaming. "Herro!"   
"What's with all the birds?" Raven raised an eyebrow.   
"They are my friends." Black stated firmly, his hands behind his back. "And I love them dearly."   
Starfire gleamed. "I shall hang the rest of them up so they are not harmed!" She quickly gathered the birds into her arms and flew up.   
"So," Raven spoke up as the team split up to do their own thing. "Did you sleep alright last night?"   
"Sure! I got a full forty minutes!"   
"Will you be alright here by yourself when we leave on missions?"   
"No." He pouted. "You have to take me with you."   
"I don't think so." She smirked. "It was one thing when you were living out there, but you need to stay put. You're ill Black. Seriously. In the head."   
"Please Rae Rae!" He threw himself on the ground and grabbed her leg. "Please let me join you guys! Please!"   
"No!" She attempted to shake him off.   
"TAKE ME WITH YOU!"   
"I'm warning you!" Her eyes glowed.   
"Oh Raven, you forgot to shave."   
Seen from outside the tower was a black haired kid sailing from the roof out into the bay. The alien had to retrieve him.   
Inside, Black finally got the chance to take a shower, or in this case, a bath. Don't judge him.   
Cyborg came waltzing down the hall to see Beast Boy with his ear pressed against the bathroom door.   
"B, what are you doing?"   
"Sshh!" He hushed him sharply. "Come here and listen!"   
The robot did as he was told. A grin stretched on his face as he listen to the conversation Black was having with himself.  
"I was born a poor black child...no. I don't know what I was born. Was I born? Babies, what are they good for? Miss Scarlet, I don't know nothing about birthing no babies! It'll be an orphan. Like Annie."   
Then he started singing, "The sun'll come out, tomorrow. Bet your bottom..." He stopped. "Bet my bottom? I'm coming Elizabeth! For I am William Turner, my father was Bootstrap Bill Turner! What AARR ya doin?! What are you doing? No, what ARRR you doin'?! Do or do not, there is no try. The force is strong with this one!"  
Then he started singing again, to the tune of Bohemian Rhapsody, but definitely not with the right lyrics. "I am the captain of the Starship Enterprise...Captain Kirk: This is Spock. Please step on the transporter...Dilithium crystals! Hit by Klingon missiles! No!...I'm a doctor!...Not an actor!...Not a milkman!...What does that mean?...And I'm sorry -- He's dead, Jim...Photon torpedo!" Suddenly, there was a loud splash and water started to come from under the door.   
"Clean up on aisle seven."   
The two boys lost it and could barely contain their laughter.   
Night rolled around and everyone made their way to bed. Black laid in silence, waiting for everyone to fall asleep. The coast seemed clear so he treated lightly across the ground and made his way to the hall. At the end, highlighted by the moonlight from the window, was his objective.   
Robin's room.   
Carefully, he stole down passed the rooms, his heart pounding. And the hydraulic door slid open, Black realized he had never had such a moment of clarity, of sanity. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as he felt very wrong, and somehow, very right at the same time. He opened the closet doors and scanned over the multiple uniforms hanging. Finally, his gaze landed on the masks sitting on the shelves. As he reached for one, he wondered if he really should. He picked up the article. It weighted heavily in his hand. With his free hand, he combed the hair back from his face, then carefully placed the mask on his own skin. It didn't feel differently, but he had to see himself. In Robin's bathroom, he closed his eyes and flicked on the light. Hesitantly, he looked up.   
He knew it. The whole time, a nagging voice was telling him from the back of his head that it was true. The boy looking back at him in his reflection looked just like...  
"Robin?"   
Black turned around quickly to see Starfire standing in the doorway.   
"Can it be?" She reached out for him. "Robin?"   
Angered and afraid, he tore of the mask and ran from the room.   
That's not me...


	5. Chapter 5

Black sat on the sofa, hand cuffed. Don't worry, he didn't do anything wrong. The night before, Starfire had walked in on him in Robin's room to see him wearing a mask. With the incredible resemblance to her hero, things had to be taken into consideration. Cyborg had cuffed the kid for the night, and the tower was put on lockdown. Black still got his full forty minutes of sleep before his nightmares kicked in, and he spent the rest of the night randomly cleaning in the kitchen. Now, Cyborg was on the computer, planning a call.  
"Who are you calling'?" Black asked curiously. "Robin's momma?"  
"Robin doesn't have a momma." Raven narrowed her eyes.  
"Well, no wonder he was such a grump."  
"We're calling the next best thing." Cyborg provided. "Robin's guardian, Batman."  
"Batman, huh?" Black scratched his chin. "Why Bats, huh? Why not something else? Like…Catman! Coughing up hairballs and caterwauling late into the night!"  
The call connected and a man dressed in all black answered.  
"Cyborg, good to hear from you. Anything?" He asked.  
"Well," The robot started.  
"Ratman! Sneaking through tunnels and digging in garbage!"  
The cowled hero turned his gaze in irritation, then his eyes widen. "My god!"  
"Fatman! Throwing twinkles at anorexics!" Black obliviously continued his rambling.  
"So, you do recognize him!" Starfire floated.  
"Of course! How did you four not?"  
"Datman!" Black pulled out a pair of shades and pit his lower lip. "Dat man."  
"We've never seen him without his uniform before, sir." Beast Boy spoke up, turning into a fanboy.  
"Dratman! Angrily shaking his fist into the night!"  
"Well, I guess I can understand that…he is a very private person."   
"Gnatman! More useless than Antman!"  
Batman pursed his lips. "What happened to him?"  
"Well, that we don't really have an answer for…" Cyborg replied.  
"He seems to have amnesia, that's why we called."  
"Kit-Katman! Give 'im a break!"  
Beast Boy cracked a smile. "And he's been sucking on the crazy juice."  
Batman rubbed his temples. "How did you find him?"  
"Patman! THERE THERE, KITTY."  
"He always seemed to find us." Star answered. "He called himself the new hero of jump."  
"And he was fighting crime."  
"And living in a hat." Beast Boy added.  
"Matman! Let's people walk right over him!"  
Batman had an odd look on his face.  
"He swam the channel when they tore down the old hat factory, and he needed a place to stay." Starfire continued. "I had a hunch when I saw him wearing one of Robin's masks. I believe a part of him is curious about the person he used to be, even of he says otherwise."  
"Tatman! Lookin like a ink masters special!"  
"How long has he been with you?"  
"Only a few days."  
"Satman! Booty had me like…EEEEEEEE."  
"but it feels like forever…" Beast Boy exasperated. "I'm supposed to be the comedy relief!"  
"Bratman! He wants that new boat!"  
"Well, it's hard to do anything over the phone, we'll get packed up and come out to Jump as soon as possible."  
"We?"  
"Flatman! Beats rock! Loses to scissors…"  
"Oracle, the current Robin in Gotham, and my butler. Maybe we can trigger some old memories. But you four most promise to take our secret identities to your graves. We're doing this for him, and that's enough of a reason to trust you."  
Cyborg saluted. "You have our word."   
"Thatman! What man? THAT MAN!"   
"Good, see you in a few hours, I guess."  
"See you soon, Mr. Batman!" Starfire floated with glee.  
"Hatman! Looking FABULOUS!"  
"This is it! Soon, we will have our leader once again! I am so very excited!"  
"Pacman! WAKA WAKA WAKA!"   
"I'm not convinced that's going to happen easily." Cyborg rolled his eyes. "Alright Black, we're going to have some visitors today."   
"And you don't want me to bite them, right?"   
"Yes! Yes, that would be very good! Keep your teeth to yourself."   
"Then can I have my hands back? These bracelets are nifty, but kinda make it hard to do the biz."   
"Just as long as you promise you won't leave, okay?"   
"Why would I leave my home?"   
Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at Black. "What?" He questioned.   
"You think of this as your home?" Raven appealed.   
"Well, you know what they say, 'home is where the heart is, so your real home's in your chest.' But this is a nice second."   
The team collectively smiled.   
Noon rolled around and there came a buzz from the door.   
"That must be them. Star, would you let them in?"   
"With pleasure!" The alien zipped off.   
At the table, Black was enjoying a bowl of Mac and cheese, and listening to some riveting tales from BB.   
"So then, me, Pantha, Jericho, Herald, and Menos, the last surviving titans, proceeded to overthrow the brotherhood of evil. All by ourselves."   
Black excitedly chewed his noodles.   
"I specifically remember that that happened a lot differently." Raven spoke, sipping her earl gray.   
"Okay, after we defrosted most of the titans, then we defeated the brotherhood of evil."   
The doors to the main room slid open and four people walked in. Well, three walked, one rolled.   
Black looked up at the guests with a blank, albeit curious face.   
"Master Richard, it is so wonderful to see you again!"   
"Hey Dick, how are you feeling?"   
"Well well, the Dickey Bird lives."   
"How are you, old chum?"   
The four crowded around the confused teen, along with the other four titans.   
Black became afraid and backed away from the group.   
"You okay, Black?"   
"Hey, look at me."   
"What's wrong?"   
The amount of questions and people overwhelmed him. Black pulled away from everyone, screaming.   
"Black?" Starfire asked concerned.   
"Too many people! Too many questions!" He cried. "I don't know! I don't know anything!"   
The Bat family backed away and gave him space. Bruce Wayne attempted to approach the boy, but was intercepted by Starfire. She put a gentle hand on his shoulder.   
"Please, Mr. Batman, allow me." She silently moved next to Black and gripped his shoulders. "It is only I, Starfire."   
"There's just too many people..." He whispered.   
"They love you Black, they just want to talk to you."   
"I don't know how to answer them."   
"What if we sequestered you and sent each one in, one at a time?"   
He sniffed and nodded.   
"Yes? That would be alright?"   
He rubbed under his eye and held out his hand. She took it with a smile and helped him up from where he crouched on the floor.   
"Cyborg, I am going to take him to the white room." That's what she called the interrogation room. "He needs a moment to collect himself."   
"Good idea, Star. We'll be in the Black room shortly."  
Cyborg turned back to the group to see Bruce with a pensive look on his face.  
"Sir?"  
"Sorry," he muttered. "It's just going to take me a little while to get used to this."  
In the interrogation room, Black sat with his head down, rhymically tapping his fingers on the table.  
"Quick, Cy!" Beast Boy called, "turn on the speaker, I think he's talking to himself!"  
He wasn't, in fact, he was singing, "And He walks with me, and He talks with me, And He tells me I am His own; And the joy we share as we tarry there, None other has ever known.  
"He speaks, and the sound of His voice, Is so sweet the birds hush their singing, And the melody that He gave to me within my heart is ringing…"  
"Is…that a hymn?" Beast Boy asked perplexed, after Cyborg muted the mic.  
"Yep." Bruce filled in. "I Go to the Garden Alone."   
"Never took you as a church goer…"   
"I'm not. But Richard used to sing that when he was younger. Whether from stress or fear, I caught him singing this multiple times."  
Starfire spoke up sadly. "It is sad, he probably does not know why he knows this song anymore."  
"That's because music is part of your procedural memory." Bruce explained, writing down notes already. "Something you remember without thinking about it."  
"Should we send someone in?" Jason asked, a bit impatient.   
Cyborg turned on the mic. "Black, we're going to send in one of your guests. Okay?"  
The boy nodded.  
With a little help in maneuvering, Barbara wheeled into the white room. "Hello there, do you recognize me?"  
He shook his head.  
"My name is Barbara, you and I-"  
"Barbara Manatee?"  
"No, Barbara Gordon."  
"BARBARA MANATEE!!!! You are the one for me!" He echoed himself, "One for me, one for me…Sent from up above! Up above, up above! You are the one I love. I love, I love, I love."  
Real life Barbara was shocked as Black moved the table over and sat seductively upon it. "Please don't cry Bar-ba-ra, you're a nice Manatee, you've been so good to me, but I must go into the world and to noble things for the good of all!…and you can't come because you don't speak Frrrench." He made sure to roll his 'R'. "Au revoir!"  
The boys were laughing hysterically while Starfire's eyes seethed with pulsing green energy.  
"This would be the part where you come in: But if you leave Bill, who will take me to the ball? Who's gonna take me to the ball, Bill?  
I have a new dress and shoes...a new manatee lipstick!" He shrieked. "Who will take me to the ball?"  
Then he began a tirade with himself, switching parts between 'Bill' and 'Barbara'.   
"Please don't go!"  
"I must!"  
"Don't go!"  
"I must!"  
"Don't!!"  
"Must!!"  
"Don't don't!!!!"  
"Must must!!!!"  
He paused.  
"Well, that was lovely, as I was saying…"  
"AHEM. I'm in the middle of a performance." He put his hands on his hips.  
"Oh, excuse me, please continue…"  
"Barbara Manatee!...Manatee, Manatee! You are the one for me...one for me, one for me! Sent from up above...a manatee from heaven! You are the one I love!" He unexpectedly lent forward and danced a tango with her, while she remained in the wheelchair. "Barbara Manatee...Manatee, Manatee! I'll be your mon amie...mon amie, mon amie! I'll take you to the ball...to the ball, to the ball! I hope your not to tall…we might have trouble dancing."  
He raised his voice to a nauseating falsetto, "Bill, I've learned French!"  
"You have?"  
"Mais, oui. Je suis Manatee. See?"  
"Oui, oui mon amie, I always knew you could, I really hoped you would, now can we go into the world and do noble things for the good of all?"  
"Yes, but first, will you take me to the ball? Ooooooh, Bill, will you take me to the ball?"  
He paused again, unknowingly leaving everyone in anticipation.  
"…I can't dance."  
"You can't!?"  
"No."  
"I must go..."  
"Please don't go."  
"I must."  
"Don't go!"  
"I must!"  
"Don't!!"  
"Must!!"  
"Don't don't!!!!"  
"Must must!!!!"  
Then he waited a moment before speaking with a very proper British voice. THIS HAS BEEN SILLY SONGS WITH BLACK TUNE IN NEXT TIME TO HEAR BILL SAY: Oh Bar-ba-ra, I've learned to dance." He then bowed. "I thank you."  
Oracle couldn't help but clap her hands. "Fantastic."   
"Now, as you were saying?" He settled back onto the table.   
"Ah, yes…You and I sort of grew up together. After you were taken in by Bruce, we both trained and patrolled the streets together."  
Black scrunched his nose. "Who's Bruce?"  
The tall man in the other room ceased his writing, looked at Black for a moment but then continued as if nothing happened.  
"Bruce is…sort of like your dad. He'll come out here soon, so you can see him."  
"What do you mean, 'after he took me in?' Why would he do that?"  
"Well…because you're a orphan, Dick."  
"Hey, no need to call me names, Vagina."   
"No no, that's your nickname. Your real name is Richard."   
"That's news to me."  
"Well, yeah, you've lost your memory. And we've come to help." She smiled.  
"What if I don't want help?" His sudden dark tone scared her. "What if I don't want to remember? I didn't ask for your help, you know."  
"But Dick…don't you want to remember the good times we had?"  
He was silent a long time. "…no."  
"Well fine, ya Dickweed!" She pouted. "I didn't want my brother back anyways!"   
He idly scratched his chin. "Who are you again?"  
"You just sang an entire song about my name!"  
"Me? Sing? No…" He waved his hand like want she had said was improbable. "Where are we?"  
"It's an interrogation room, it's where the titan's interview criminals."  
His eyebrows scrunched. "I'm no criminal."   
"No, of course not. Calm down."  
"Okay." He turned his back on her and went to the chair in the corner. He took a seat and then looked up. His face was surprised. "Well, howdy! My name is Black, but you can call me Black. When I brush my teeth, I like to watch my man boobs jiggle."   
Barbara's lips set into a thin line as surveyed him.  
"Left, right, left, right."   
She let out a snort, despite her valiant efforts.   
"You're kinda pretty." He acknowledged.   
The girl blushed. "Oh thank you."   
"Psh, way not as pretty as Starfire."   
The alien 'eeped' in the other room.  
"But, you remind me of those girls that stand on street corners at night. Well, I guess you can't really stand, can you?"   
Jason was dying of laughter.   
"Are you calling me a prostitute?!" Barbara indigently howled. She thrashed in her chair, fuming. "If it wasn't for this stupid thing, I'd be over there faster then you can say, 'Oh Lord Jesus the devil cometh!'"   
"Barbara." Bruce's calm voice interrupted. "He's getting to you. Why don't you give Jason a try?"   
"Yeah, like that's a good idea." She rolled her eyes. Never the less, she rolled out of the room.   
Jason came in, hands in his pockets, cigarette between his teeth. "Well." He conceded.   
Black vaulted over the table and slapped him across the face.   
"Dick! What the hell?!"   
"You were smoking. That causes lung cancer. That causes death. You are too young to die."   
Jason took an even breath to calm down his already boiling rage. "My name is..."   
"SHAKE ZULA, THE MIC RULE YA, THE OL SCHOOLAH, YOU WANT A TRIP? I BRING IT TO YA!" Black rapped.   
"No, how about you don't interrupt me. Okay?"   
"...number one in the hood, G."   
"My name is Jason."   
"Like...Jason Voorhees? The mass murderer?"   
"What? No!"   
"Does that make me Freddy Krueger? His gloves are kind of cool."   
"Listen, the name's Jason Todd. Okay? You're Dick Grayson. Not Freddy...okay?"   
"Okay dokie smokey!"   
"Okay. Now, you and I...we're like brothers. Got it? Bruce took both of us in, 'cause we're both orphans."   
"You are my brother?"   
"Adopted brother." He clarified.   
"I have a dearest bro bro!"   
"Oh no..." Before anything else could be said, Black was sitting in his lap, hugging him. "I wuv my dearest bro bro!" He smiled, kicking his legs. "I won't let no evil clown kill my little bro bro." He pinched his cheek.   
"Get off of-...wait, what did you just say?"   
"Clowns, they freak me out man. They freak me out! It's like they're always happy...and they shouldn't be!"   
"So you aren't speaking from experience when you say 'evil clown'?"   
Images of a green haired psychopath popped up in his mind's eye, but he ignored it. "No...it's just a conspiracy theory...like aglets."   
"Aglets?"   
"The little plastic piece at the end of a shoelace. It's true purpose is sinister!"   
Jason pushed the teen off of his lap and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look, we're trying to help you. If you don't cooperate...well, you're going to have a bad time."   
"We?"   
"You just talked to Barbara!" Jason's face was slowly turning red with anger.   
"Oh right, the manatee."   
"Good. Now. What's your name?"  
"My name is Black, but you can call me Black."  
"NO NO NO! It's DICK! RICHARD JOHN GRAYSON! IS IT REALLY THAT HARD?!?!"  
"Well, you didn't need to get all Caps lock on me…"  
Jason breathed deeply again. "Can you tell me anything about what happened? Why you've lost your memory?"  
"No."  
Jason did his very best to smile kindly, but it still came out as a grimace. "Nothing at all?"  
"Nuh-uh." He pouted. "I don't want to talk to you, Mr. Poopy pants."   
"...poopy pants?" Jason exasperated. "Okay, you know what? Fine. Be that way. I'll get someone else in here."  
He stood up and turned to leave, but before he left, Black called out. "Bye bye, Bro bro!"   
Jason shook his head and closed the door behind him. "Well that was a waste of time."   
"Not necessarily," Bruce spoke up. "Did he notice he called you his little brother?"   
"Bro bro." Barbara corrected.   
"Yes, well, you look his age and maybe older. How did he know you were younger?"   
Jason opened his mouth to answer, but then he shut it.   
"It's all there, but the question is, how to get it out?"  
"Master Bruce, may I give it a go?" Alfred spoke up. "We could give him that item that you brought along."  
"Yeah, I think that would be our next move. I have a theory, still in the beginning stages. I'm not a psychologist."   
"We will figure out what it is." Starfire stated confidently.   
Bruce smirked at her optimism. He then looked out to Black sitting in the other room, who was picking scabs on his arm.   
"Knock it off." He spoke through the mic.   
Black was startled, "Yes, God!"   
"Now," Bruce started. "We're going to start with cue dependency. In theory, when he sees something he once cherished, he'll remember the memory that went along with it."   
"I'll go get it." Alfred said, already making his way out of the room.   
"I don't understand why he acts so childish." Raven narrowed her eyes.   
"The more you experience in life, the more you grow up. Dick's childhood was cut short, so I think his mind may have gone back to then."  
Beast Boy cut in, "But then how does he know all those TV references and stuff? He remembers how to fight, too!"  
"That's because that all part of his procedural memory. You remember those things differently then names, faces, and experiences."  
Alfred then walked into the interrogation room with a black bag in hand and sat across the table from the boy in question. The man smiled at him, waiting for him to speak first.  
"You're old."   
Alfred's smile turned unimpressed. "Really, that's the best observation you can make?"  
"Well, no. The amount of dust on your jacket shows that you're a butler, but your quality in clothing shows that it's a rich man that employs you. By the wrinkle lines around your lips and on your forehead, you give more into your job then you expected, a lot of worrying. Judging my the small scaring from burns on your hands, you were in the military for a couple years, and by the sternness in your eyes, I'd say as a doctor. Also by the blotchy color of your skin around your left temple, I would say you were sick with agent orange poisoning, meaning you were stationed in Vietnam. You're originally from brussels, judging by your accent. You are about sixty-five years of age and your favorite flavor of tea is earl gray."  
The other room, except for Batman, stood in awe.  
Alfred smiled again. "And you are?"  
Black saluted. "My name is Black, but you can call me Black. I want to be a unicorn when I grow up, and shoot lasers out of my horn."   
"It's nice to meet you."  
"Are YOU going to tell me I'm this Dick guy? Because I don't want to be a dick."  
"Not at all."  
Black smiled.  
"In fact, I have a present for you." The kind old man pulled the black bag up and set it on the table. From the inside, he withdrew a stuffed elephant and set it in front of Black. The teen sat in silence as his brain processed what he was seeing.   
Quietly, he reached out and clutched it. "Zeeta…"  
"That's right."  
Sounds of the circus filled his ears and a joyful look overcame his face. "Just like my friend at the zoo!" In his mind's eyes, he saw a man handing him the toy. 'There you go sport.' "This is from my parents! I remember!"   
Alfred, again, nodded.   
"Can I see them!? Can we go?! Please! I remember everything now! My dad is awesomely strong and he used to throw me up in the air and catch me! And-and my mom! She's the prettiest lady on the face of the earth. She has long blonde hair and bright blue eyes! Just like mine! And she has the best hugs! And then we were up on the trapeze and-…" He stopped, his smile fading. "The trapeze."  
Alfred nodded again and urged him to continue.   
Black sneered at the butler and clutched his toy, curling up instinctively. "No. I-I…I won't believe it." He pouted, tears gathering in his eyes.  
"Master Richard, please."  
"No! Why can't everyone just see me who I am?! MY NAME IS BLACK! Like darkness! Darkness is eternal, uncatchable, unlimited, and invincible! Black can do anything! Black can do everything Robin can't! Everything he couldn't!" At this point, tears were streaming down the boys face as he glared at Alfred.  
As much as it broke his heart, the old butler still smiled kindly as his old charge yelled on and on without recognizing his face.   
"You heartless old man! Why would you make me remember this!?" Still he clutched the elephant. "Please…" his anger ran out. "J-Just leave me alone."   
Without another word, Alfred stood up and left. In the other room, he covered his face with one hand and panted.   
"Alfred, would you like to help me make up some tea?" Raven asked quietly.  
"Yes, my dear, that would be lovely, thank you." The two left.  
Starfire had taken to sitting in a chair next to Barbara, but she was silent. Bruce continued to scribble his notes. Cyborg sat in the main chair with the controls. Beast Boy leaned against the wall in the corner. Finally, Jason stood out in hall, taking a well needed drag on his cigarette.  
"Well, Mr. Batman?" Starfire spoke up.  
"Anterograde and Retrograde Amnesia, Repression, Confabulation, Psychosis, High perceptive ability. I think I know what's wrong with him, but just to make sure, I'm going in." The man stood up and cracked his knuckles. "Cyborg, shut out the lights."  
"Sure thing."  
Black had just finished setting up Zeeta so she stood on the table when the lights when out. He stayed in his spot when the door slowly swung open. "Who it is?" He called. There was no reply. All was silent. "Hello? Seriously, answer me…this ain't funny…"  
Suddenly, something swooped in, grabbed his arm and pulled him up from his seat.   
"Batman!" He blurted out. Shocked at his own lips, Black stared into the shadows as the hand set him back in his seat.   
"Hit the light Cyborg."   
The lights above ignited, blindingly. Black had to blink rapidly.   
"Alright," Bruce sat across from Black, legs crossed. "Have you had any chest pains?"  
"My chest is always tight…" Black was still in a state of shock.  
"Any insomnia?"  
"I can't sleep very well at night…" he confessed.  
"Ever experience any uncontrollable movement in your limbs?"  
"All the time, but how…?"  
"Shush. In due time. Nausea?"  
"What's that?" Black asked timidly.  
"Feeling like you're going to puke."  
"Yes…"  
"Okay…" Bruce wrote it all down. "Look at me."   
The boy snapped his head up, and Bruce saw pure trepidation in his eyes. He said nothing.  
"Acute paralysis in the muscles controlling the eye, and blue tint around the lips." He wrote more stuff down.  
Black bit his lip and reached for Zeeta.   
"Don't touch it." Bruce glanced at him. "Now, where did this thing come from?" He nudged the elephant.   
"Um..my father."  
"That's a 'who', I asked 'where'." He said sternly.  
"I-I don't know."  
"Yes, you do. You've told me."   
Black looked nervously around and couldn't find an answer. Suddenly, it hit him. "Uh…Africa!"   
"Africa?" Bruce wasn't surprised.   
"Y-yeah! That's right! My parents were scientists and there was this monkey and-…"  
Bruce held up a hand to make him stop. "Confabulation."  
"What?"  
"That was a confabulation. You nor your parents ever went to Africa."   
"But-...But-…"  
"Someone told you that story, and your brain filled up the gap in your memory with it. It never happened."  
Black put his head in his hands, his mind reeling.   
"What does this spark in you?" Bruce set a needle on the table.  
Black shrunk away from it, but he needn't say a thing.   
"What does this spark in you?" This time he set a little blue tablet on the metal surface.   
With an inhuman speed, Black swiped the drug and swallowed it.  
"It's a placebo, by the way. You're going to have to wean off of that."  
Black grunted and put his head on the desk.   
"I'm going to give you a scenario, and I want you to finish it."  
Black nodded.  
"It's night time and you hear a gun shot, you rush to the scene to find your friend injured. When your back is turned, the crook shoots you. What happens?"  
"Well, then I'd have a giant gaping hole in my shoulder! Probably bleed to death!" Bruce could hear the frustration in his voice. He didn't like not having the upper hand as he had with the others.   
"I never said where you got shot." Bruce provided.  
Black sat dumbfounded and wide-eyed.  
"One more question." Black nodded him to continue. "What did you eat when you were out on your own?"  
Finally, a question not so probing. "Whatever I could find. Chip crumbs, old bread, sometimes the Chinese restaurants would let me have their white rice. Oh, and lots and lots of water."  
Bruce nodded his head. "That's enough for tonight." He snatched the stuffed animal from the table.   
Black watched in sadness as the mean man left the room with his friend. Fat tears started to form.   
In the other room, Bruce let out a huge sigh. "This is much worse then I could have feared."  
Starfire looked in despair.   
"Not saying that it'll be impossible, but we're going to need to stay a couple of days."  
"No prob," Cyborg smiled. "We'll get you guys set up in the guest rooms."  
"Barbara?" Starfire spoke up. "Would you like to stay in my room? We can stay up late doing each other's hair and doing the swapping of stories about Robin! And…if you need help with anything, I'll be right there."  
"Thank you Starfire, I would really appreciate it."  
Beast Boy smiled at the other spunky teen. "Hey Jason-…"  
"You want a death wish?"  
"Jason," Bruce warned. "He's being hospitable."  
"Doesn't make him smell any less like wet dog."  
"Be polite."  
He grimly smiled. "Thank you for the kind offer, but I must decline."  
Starfire looked over to see Black weeping in the other room. "Um…"  
"Let it be." Bruce said determined. "It's the repression. By tomorrow morning, he won't remember most of the things brought up tonight. It's best if we leave before you let him out. He's had enough stress." Despite how harsh Bruce had been earlier, Starfire could see the concern written all over his face.   
In her room, Starfire helped Babs roll out a futon to sleep on. "Is it difficult? Not being able to use your legs?"  
"Eh, sometimes. Most of the time it's just annoying. I'm working on a bio-suit though. One that will allow me to move artificially."  
"Like Cyborg?"  
She laughed. "Sort of."   
"I am going to get a glass of water while you get changed. Do you desire anything?"  
"Water's fine, thanks."  
The alien left her new friend alone and made her way to the common room. On the way there, she passed Bruce in Robin's office, shuffling papers around.   
"Mr. Batman?"  
"This kid is such an enigma, his room is fit as a fiddle, but his office looks like hell had an auction."  
"What are you attempting to do?"  
"I'm just going to do some research, the sooner we figure this out, the better. I can't stay here forever, Gotham needs me…" Then he lowered his tone. "But Dick needs me more."   
"We all appreciate you coming out here to help. It means very much."  
She smiled at her. "Think nothing of it."  
Starfire continued her way down to the Ops room, coming out of one of the side doors. Surprised, she ceased movement when she saw Black kneeling by his makeshift bed.  
"Thank you for sending the titans to find me, so that I could have a warm place to sleep. I pray for my new family as they put up with my scatterbrainy-ness. I pray for Beast Boy, that he'll warm up to me and we can be friends. I pray that Cyborg doesn't mind me occasionally trashing his tower and I pray that Raven doesn't get annoyed by me. I pray for Starfire's patience, and I ask that you strengthen her, because she really misses Robin."  
The alien leaned against the wall, feeling guilty for listening, but unable to stop.  
"I pray for Barbara, I hope her legs feel better and that she's not too mad at me for calling her a prostitute manatee. I also ask that you make Jason stop smoking, because I don't want him to die. And I pray for the other two older guys that didn't introduce themselves, because they seemed really nice…well, not really, but I think they're just grumpy and miss that Richard guy." Starfire heard a crackling sound and a sniff. "And…wherever Robin is…keep him safe. All this in your name I pray, Amen."  
For the second time, Starfire realized that Black really wasn't as insane as everyone else thought.


	6. Chapter 6

Black angrily looked at the door in front of him. His feet had led him here of their own accord. It was the middle of the night once again. His sleep cycle was finished and he was bored all alone. Now he wished he had stayed back in the common room. He took a bite out of the raw tomato he stole from the kitchen.  
In front of him, the name 'Robin' was engraved in the heavy metal door. "You." He spat. "You make me sick. You faker. Everyone loves you. Everyone holds such high expectations for you. but you know what you really are? You're a phony. You're a coward with really great hair!" He chucked the tomato at high speed to the door, spattering red juice everywhere.   
"Great." He mumbled to himself. "I should probably clean that up before morning." He let out a groan, a bit louder then he meant to.   
Suddenly, the door to the room two down swished open. He grimaced, feeling bad he had woken up one of his new friends. But then he realized that room was not a bedroom. Was there someone else awake? Or an intruder? Black clenched his fists, ready to defend himself. From the room emerged a black cloaked figure. His cowl had pointed ears and a bat shaped emblem blazed on his chest. The man was huge, and loomed towards him.   
For a moment, Black panicked, the stranger intimidating him. Then he remembered the man he had seen early the day before.   
"Batman?" He asked in a hushed voice.   
The masked man gave a smirk. "Good to see I left an impression."   
Putting two and two together, Black figured that this was the same man from the night before. The one that scared him.   
"It's late," Batman stated. "You should be in bed."   
"So should you. But here we are."   
"I'm on my to bed now." He countered.   
"And I just woke up. I can't sleep."   
"Nightmares." It was more of a statement the a question.   
Black simpered.   
"Here," seemingly out of nowhere, the man withdrew the stuffed elephant from earlier. "Take this and go back to sleep."   
The boy looked up to his forgotten mentor and replied earnestly. "Thank you." With that, they both returned to bed.   
In the morning, Black awoke to someone shuffling in the kitchen. They were going to great lengths to be quiet, but the sounds did not escape Black's keen senses. He sat up and stretched.   
"Good morning, Master Ri-...Black, Master Black." Alfred corrected himself.   
Black tilted his head, looking and the elderly man. "Why are you up so early?"   
"I always wake up this early. I'm making breakfast. Are you hungry?"   
"May I help?" He requested.   
"of course." Alfred smiled. "Ever made waffles?"   
"Yes sir!"   
"Good, you do that, and I'll cook the bacon and eggs."   
"Yes sir!" He repeated.   
A peasant silence fell over them as they worked. Alfred brewed tea for both of them. "So," he began. "I believe we got off to a rough start yesterday. I didn't mean to upset you."   
"I know. You miss him, and you're trying to help. But as I've said before, I don't want to remember who I was."   
Alfred took this into consideration, but then threw a curve ball at him. "Do you like Starfire?"   
Black didn't skip a beat. "Do ducks like water?"   
"Suppose this scenario then. Imagine it was Starfire who went missing three months ago, and a girl, who matched her identity perfectly showed up later. But, this girl had no remembrance of being Starfire, instead, she called herself by the name Purple and acted completely different from who she used to be. Despite all this, you knew for a fact it was her, but she didn't want to remember. What would you do?"   
Black silently took the waffle from the iron and poured more batter in. Then he answered. "I would want her to remember...remember me."   
"People change, Master Black. And we need to love them regardless of who they become. But no one likes to be forgotten."   
A moment of clarity came over the boy, now he didn't feel so broken hearted. These people that upsetted him, they really didn't mean to be malicious about it. "I don't think I caught your name."   
"Alfred." The old butler smiled.   
"Oh, you're one of those people that have two names, right? Do I call you Al? Or Fred?"   
"Whichever you prefer."   
Black was quiet and then spoke delicately. "What did I use to call you?"   
"Dick called me Al, but sometimes when I nagged him, he'd sarcastically call me 'mom'."   
Black outright laughed. "Mom! I'll call you that! Thanks mom!"   
One by one, the other titans and guests trickled in for breakfast, until there was only one missing. Black was braiding Starfire's hair when Bruce burst into the room, his hair disheveled and bags under his eyes.   
"Master Bruce, you look awful! Did you get any rest last night?"   
"Korsakoff's psychosis." He stated.   
"Gesundheit!" Black shouted.   
"Excuse me?" Alfred asked.   
"It was just a theory, but everything lines up! I was up all night researching it! He has Korsakoff's psychosis!"   
"Okay, but what does that mean?"   
Everyone was attentive and listening, except for the person it concerned the most. Black continued playing with Starfire's hair, and making airplane noises.  
"It's a mental disability caused by a thiamine deficiency. Problem is, I don't know how he got it. Obviously, he hasn't had a very healthy diet, but this goes beyond eating garbage. If we could just get him to remember what happened three months ago..."   
"Can't we just give him thiamine?" Cyborg asked.   
"We could try, but since he's been here, he's been eating very well. Lots of greens."   
"What if we gave him an IV?" Suggested Raven.  
Jason scoffed. "You think he would sit still long enough for that?"   
They collectively looked at Black, who had miraculously fashioned Starfire's hair into a perfect double helix.  
Barbara raised an eyebrow. "Then what do you suppose we do?"   
"I don't know, make him run around until he's exhausted?"   
"Do you know how wired that guy is?" Beast Boy raised. "The words 'rest and relaxation' are not in his vocabulary."   
"Still," Bruce scratched his chin. "I'd like to see what he's got."   
Black sang to himself, "Banzai, buk choy, wise guy, water boy, light shine bright in the Yukon tonight!"   
"Hey Black!" Bruce called over to the boy.   
"Yes master!" Black saluted.   
"Would you join us for a work out this afternoon?"   
"Psh, do bears ride motorcycles?"   
The was a long pause before Jason whispered. "Do they?"   
In the training room, Bruce prepared a set of skill tests to measure Black's abilities. He was curious to see what the dynamic change was, if there was at all. Cyborg supplied the Dark Knight with the most recent charts Robin had filled out.   
Black came into the room, his hair slicked back from hair gel, sunglasses, and Robin's work out pants. His many scars were visible on his torso, despite the red beater he wore. He could care less though. Walking through the doors, he walked with a slouched posture and exaggerated shoulder movement.   
"When I walk in the spot, this is what I see. Everybody stops and they staring at me. I got passion in my pants and I ain't afraid to show it, show it, show it, show it..." He whipped off his glasses and fist pumped. "I'm sexy and I know it!" He carelessly whipped his arm around and galloped like he was riding a bull.  
Bruce was not amused.   
Jason caught the look on this face and called out to Black, barely containing his laughter. "Daddy didn't raise no hoe!"   
Black stopped immediately and looked put off. "Dude! You threw off my groove!"   
"Alright, children." Bruce interrupted. "Let's get started. Black, front and center."   
The delusional boy skipped up and stood rim rod straight, his hand in an 'L' shape on his forehead.   
"I want to see what you're capable of, so we have some tests to run. Cyborg, if you please..."   
The robot man spoke up from the control panel. "We'll start you out on our indoor obstacle course. Starfire will do it first to see how it's done." Then he called over to the alien. "Remember Star, no flying!"   
"Comprehended!" She called back.   
A red light on the wall told her to get into position. Yellow, she crouched. Green, she was gone.   
Black watched in admiration as she slipped through the obstacles, no problem. Lasers grazed passed her hair, sharp claws swiped and missed her skin. At the end, she landed perfectly and elegantly on her toes, not a hair out of place.   
"How did I do?" She asked Cyborg.   
"Almost matched your best time, by two seconds."   
She snapped her fingers. "Flortoga!"   
Jason looked interested. "Can I give it a try before der Schwärze?"   
Black pouted. "Go ahead, Sir Tootsalot."   
Jason gave Black a strange look, but took up his spot at the starting line.   
The new Robin's moves were no where near as graceful as Starfire's. He had started training under Batman only a few months ago, and was eager to impress the man. Unfortunately, Batman was not easily impressed, not after the sheer talent that radiated from his first protégé. Still, Bruce was proud of the progress the boy had made in the first few months.   
Panting, Jason finished his bout. "That's a really nice course. You should try it, Bruce."   
The older man acknowledged him. "Maybe later...Black, would you like to try now?"   
The boy scratched his chin. "Do I have to do it like that?"   
Bruce considered. "No...I guess you can do it anyway you want."   
"Great!" He happily tottered over to the starting point.   
"You ready?" Cyborg called.   
"Whenever you are, you delicious chocolate man!"   
Giggling came from the teens as Cyborg shook his head and reset the test.   
"Nanananananana...DUN...DUN. DUN. DUN...DUN DUN DUNNNN..." He started.   
The green light signaled at Black started. Right from the start, he started showing his cleverness and intelligence. He took a separate route, still through the course, but the less dangerous way. Lasers were guided so they aimed at him, but he moved so that not only avoided them, but they took out each other. Then he surprised everyone as he sang while he moved. "Risin' up back on the street. Did my time, took my chances. Went the distance now I'm back on my feet, just a man and his will to survive.” He even threw in a few dance moves.”  
“What is he doing?” BB asked, flabbergasted.  
“He grew up in he center ring.” Bruce explained. “He lives for entertainment. Even if he doesn’t show it normally. It’s like…a part of his childhood essence is coming out now.”  
“Huh.” The green teenager mostly understood, but just watched as Black performed more amazing feats of agility.   
"So many times, it happens too fast, you trade your passion for glory. Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past, you must fight just to keep them alive... It's the Eye of the Tiger, it's the thrill of the fight. Rising up to the challenge of our rival. And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night and he's watching us all with the eyeeeeeee…”   
Bruce normally would have yelled at him to concentrate on the course, but instead he just observed.   
"...of the tiger!" He ended with a fist pump as the drones exploded behind him.   
"Holy...moley..." Beast Boy watched in awe.   
"Whoo! Didja see that, son?! Bang! Pow! Whoosh! Zing!" He laughed wildly to himself as he ran to Bruce, grabbed his hands and danced around. "I did it! I did it! Leedle leedle leedle leee!!"   
"Unhand me." Bruce spoke stoically.   
"What's next huh? Huh!? Huh?! Uh-huh?! Huh!"   
"Calm your tits, kid." Bruce looked over his chart. "Matched Dick's best time."  
"Yay! I'm a match! Just rub my butt, and I'm on fire!"   
"This is just one of many tests, so don't think you're out of the woods yet."   
Each Titan, and guest, took turns training with Black, both in combat and in other forms. Starfire made him do a strength test, in which he placed only a few marks higher than Robin. Cyborg tested him in the tech realm, how to use the computer, how to run certain diagnostics, how to repair gadgets, etc. He failed. Bruce conducted more athletic tests and Black excelled in all of them.   
Beast Boy quizzed him in an unorthodox sense. He guided the teen to Robin's room, or his bathroom to be more precise, and commanded him to style his hair using gel.   
"Sir, I do not understand the practicality of this assignment." Black wondered.   
"All in due time." Beast Boy replied, mysteriously. "Make sure to make it spiky." The green teenager left the boy alone in the bathroom to work.   
He emerged a few moments later, a very anime-ish style growing from his head. "What do you think? Is it me? It's me, isn't it?"   
"Yeah, if you can go super saiyan."   
"Kameeeeekkaaaaameeeee....hhaaaaaaaaa!"   
"You're retarded."  
"So did I pass?"   
"Not even close." He picked up a framed news clipping of Robin. "Do it like this."   
"Next you're going to be criticizing the style of my nails, or how much lint is in my belly button."   
The next time he tried, he came close to the right style. Not exact, but close.   
One such test was a essay that Barbara handed him.   
"Now, I want you to write a page on the difference between good and evil. Do you think you can do that?"   
Black stared at the notebook and pencil she provided for him. "Um..."   
"Yes?"   
"I don't..." He picked up the pencil and examined it. "I don't know how to write."   
"Of course you do." Barbara reiterated. "You just haven't done it in a while. Like riding a bike, or doing a backflip. Once you know it, you never forget." She pushed the paper closer to him. "Take as much time as you need. I'll leave you alone." She smiled as she rolled away.   
Black sat at the counter in the kitchen. Most of the other titans sat watching tv, Jason and Barbara included. Bruce read the paper at the table nearby and Alfred was making something, Starfire trying to assist.   
Black watched everyone with a calculated glance. How to start? He glanced back at the paper, tapping his fingers on the table. An idea popped into his clever head as he peered up as the author continued to write. He copied the what he saw onto his paper.   
Black is amazing and full of charm grace, and he should be the next president, because Obama is a dooty head.   
The author tried to backspace but knew it was useless. What was written could not be undone.   
"Oh Bar-ba-ra!" He spoke properly.   
"Finished already?"   
"No, I needs another sheet."   
"It only needs to be one page."   
"I know!" He threw up his hands. "But I need to organize my thoughts!"   
"Oh, I see." She nodded.   
Cyborg overheard the conversation. "There's a empty notebook in the top drawer. He can use that."   
The red head wheeled over to Black, and handed him the pad. "Take as much time as you need."   
Bruce looked up from his paper. "Write something you'll be proud of." He added.   
Black saluted and went back to work.   
An hour later, a pile of crumpled papers sat on the floor. Black had a sloppy page in front of him, upside down as he was ashamed. Ink was on his hands and face, his tapping fingers on the counter, nervously.   
Barbara came to check on him. "Are you done?"   
He said nothing, but shoved the page forward and stood. Shaking, he went around the kitchen, opening cabinets and searching for things.   
Barbara watched him curiously. Bruce stood silently and walked over to Cyborg. "Can you lock the doors to the common room?"   
The robotic teen peered over to Black, then activated a code on his arm.   
"Bruce..." Barbara lifted the crumpled sheet. "You need to look at this."   
The older man tread over to counter and snatched up the paper. As he read it, his eyes went wide. 

Good and Evil  
By Black  
What is good and what is evil? Are they things? Or only adjectives? Where does man fall between those two? Is man both? Yes. Man chooses his side, and lives in opposition with himself as his nature is good, but his body is evil. Man was made tainted, evil right from the beginning, but pure in soul and heart.   
Can a man be measured by his actions? Does a man that does good by day and bad by night become nothing? No. It's his intent. His mind. Evil is sneaky and clever, evil deceives and lies. But evil is appealing and easy. Good is straightforward, but hard. No matter how hard we strive for the best in life, we always fall short. No matter how hard we try...we can never win against ourselves. But those who are strong are meant to strive for greatness, to stop those who are weak in heart. Sometimes, we fail.   
What if we're supposed to fail? What happens when we become perfect? There's only good. Then no evil will exist to oppose it. Good always wins, but evil goes on. Where there is light, a shadow is cast. Until the end of our days, evil will always be. As long as there is white, there will be Black. White is good. Black is evil.   
I am evil.

Bruce studied the frantic teen, who was still snooping in the cabinets.  
"Why would you write this?" He asked.   
Black whipped back and stared at Bruce. His razor like gaze met his own ice eyes, but his normal freakish smile was gone. He said nothing.   
Bruce, frustrated, folded the sheet and stuck it in his pocket. The rest of the team heard the comment and watched the strange boy. Black scratched at his arm as he mumbled incoherently. He hurried to the door and attempted to leave. But when the door didn't open, he pounded on the metal. "Open up!"   
This got the attention of everyone in the room.   
"Black?" Starfire asked.   
He clenched his fists, looking away. "I just need some air."   
"Well, allow me to come with you." She raised.   
"No!" He shouted back. "No...I just need a moment alone." He huffed.   
"Come here." Bruce demanded.   
Black didn't move.   
"Come. Here. Now." His sharp bark startled everyone.   
The kid shuffled over, his hands ringing. He stood in front of his former mentor and stared him in the face.   
"You're shaking. Eyes bloodshot. Lids twitching. You weren't headed outside, were you." He narrowed his eyes.   
Black challenged him by narrowing his eyes as well.  
"There's none of it left. I got rid of it."   
Black let out a moan before angry tears started to spill over. He gripped Bruce's neck and shook him. "Why?! Why did you do that?!" He spat through clenched teeth. The titans all jumped to their feet at the sudden attack.  
“Black!” Starfire cried. His irrational behavior scared her.  
Bruce wretched his hands away from his throat. "There's one left."   
Black looked with adrenaline. Bruce reached into his pocket and withdrew a green bottle with a thick white cap. "Prescription strength Valium. You want it?"   
"Give it to me!" He reached for it.   
Bruce kept him at bay. "I'll give it to you, under one condition."   
Black's breath came out in heavy pants, he licked his lips.   
"If you give me what's in your back pocket."   
Black's face filled with despair as his hand unconsciously reached back. "Oh no, I can't...I can't!"   
"Certainly, you can. If you think this is more important." He shook the pill bottle.   
Black pulled out a piece of paper, and studied the faces on it.   
"Who are they?" Bruce knew the answer to that question, but wanted to see what Black would say.   
"They..." He gulped. "They are my parents."   
"And where did you get that?"   
"I stole it, from Robin's room."   
"And why, pray tell, do you think that Robin had a picture of your parents in his room? Let alone framed, on his bed stand?"   
The boy stared at the happy faces, his finger tracing their outlines. He stood frozen in his spot. The group watched him carefully. Black shoved the picture into Bruce's hands. "Take it! Take it and leave me alone! Keep the Valium, keep your tests and experiments to yourself! I've had enough of these nightmares! Just leave me alone!" He gripped his head and ran for the door. Bruce signaled Cyborg to release the lock. Black was gone.   
Starfire stepped over to Bruce. "Should I go find him?"   
"No." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Let him go for now. He won't listen to anyone in that state."   
"But there must be something we can do! He cannot stay like this forever."   
"I know. There's one last punch I could pull. We just need to convince him that being Robin is better then being Black."   
"How will we do that?"   
"He seems to view Robin's failures as his argument, if we can convince him that Black's memories need to be repressed, he may take up the persona of Robin, once again."   
"Genius!" Alfred clapped. "But we don't know anything about Black's origins. How will you persuade him to go back?"   
Bruce sighed. "Another long night of research. I'll get started on it now."   
"What about Black?" Barbara asked.   
Bruce had begun to leave the room, but stopped.   
“Haven't we bothered him enough today?"


	7. Chapter 7

Black yawned as he sat up. He rolled his neck and poped his shoulder. Rough night. Why was he so sore again? Oh right, park bench. The teen hadn’t possessed the nerve to go back to the tower the night before. Not after what had happened. So he slept in the park, like a homeless person. By the many watches on his arm, few of them even working, he concluded it was 9 in the morning. He had slept well, considering his sleeping habits. His escapades of the night before had worn him out enough. A part of him was glad to be back, and another part wanted to go back with his friends.   
As he looked around, he found himself to be surrounded by birds. Sparrows, pigeons, and robins were everywhere; On his shoulders, head, legs, utterly surrounding him.   
"Sorry boys." He released the birds to the ground. "I don't have anything for you." To pass the time way back when, Black would feed the birds. He at least was glad to have them recognize him.   
Not too far away, he heard a loud crack and an applause. A baseball game was taking place on the other side of the park. That would be a good way to waste time. Maybe he could schmooze a hotdog or something out of a vender.   
To his surprise, it was just a little league game. A bunch of kiddies ran about, some kicking up dust, some playing in the grass. Not much organization over all. But what stood out to him was a boy in the outfield…way out there, with a helmet and a glove. He made his way over and sat down next to the lad.  
“Having fun?” Black asked.  
The boy looked at him, a bit of confusion on his face. His mouth hung open slightly and his eyes were a bit crossed and slanted upward. He slurred his words when he responded. “Not so much, I’ve been out here the whole time.”  
Now, Black didn’t know much about baseball, but he knew that wasn’t right. “Aren’t you supposed to go in at each inning?”  
“Yeah, but they never tell me when, so I just stay out here.”  
“Why are you in this position? Aren’t you any good?”  
“I’m okay.” The boy picked a dandelion with his twisted fingers. “They just don’t like me because I’m not normal.”  
“Well, jeepers. I’m not normal either!” Black said, delighted.  
“I have down’s syndrome.” The boy pointed out.   
“For having down’s syndrome, you are a particularly happy person.”  
“No silly!” The boy pushed on Black’s arm. “It means I have an extra chromosome.”  
“Ohh, nifty! It’s like God gave you a little bit more!”   
“Yeah, that’s a nice way to say it. What’sa matter with you?”  
“Oh, I lost my marbles.”  
“I can help you find them. Then will you tell me what’s wrong with you?”  
“Sure!”  
“My name is Frodrick, by the way.”  
“My name is Black, but you can call me Black. I can speak bird.” Off they went together.   
Back at the tower, Bruce had emerged from another restless night. A strong cup of coffee awaited him on the table. "Thanks Alfred."   
"Actually sir, Miss Starfire brewed this cup."   
"Oh." He casually lifted the mug in an act of gratitude, then downed the drink. Beast Boy and Cyborg watched in baited breath.   
Bruce swallowed, blinked hard, and let out a gasp. "Whhoo, that is some strong stuff. What is that? Quadruple shot espresso?"   
"Sextuple."   
"Excellent." He splashed the rest of the glass on his face.   
Barbara wheeled into the kitchen. "Now that you're awake, would you mind telling us what you found last night?”  
“Well, I could. Or we can use this opportunity to practice inductive reasoning. Gather round.” He called. He stood in front of the couch and cracked his knuckles. “Alright team, what do we know about Black?”  
“He’s a drug addict.” Beast Boy pointed out.   
“Right, but what kind of drug?”   
“Valium.”  
“Which is?”  
“Painkiller?”  
“Bingo, so what got him hooked?”  
“Being in a lot of pain?”   
“Yes. And what do you think caused him pain?”   
“Slade.” Starfire spoke up.  
Batman looked at her directly. “Excuse me?”  
“The tattoo on his back. It’s Slade’s insignia.”  
Bruce glanced at the other Titan’s, a calculating look on his face. “What tattoo? Why didn’t anyone tell me about this?”  
Cyborg scratched the back of his head. “I guess we forgot…”  
“No, forgetting is when I slept through Jason’s birthday party.”  
The aforementioned teen butted in. “Hey, you said you had a busy day at the office.”  
“Everybody lies, Sweetheart.” Bruce bit back sarcastically. “Now what about this tattoo?”  
Cyborg was already at the computer, pulling up an image. “This is what it looks like.”  
Bruce studied the image and a scowl came over his face. “Well, that could have made researching this a lot simpler.”  
“Problem.” Raven pointed out. “Slade is supposedly dead, or, undead. However you think about it.”  
“He died in a lava pit, and then was resurrected by Trigon.” Starfire explained. “But then he died again. But sometimes things point to him.”  
“Like this.” Bruce acknowledged. “Okay, well. Moving on…what else do we know about Black?”  
“He likes the color Black?” Jason shrugged.   
“Yes. And judging by his paper, there may also be an entity by the name White. But I’m not sure about it.”  
"His thoughts are sporadic?"   
"And so are his actions."   
"To us they are," Bruce clarified. "But to him, they make perfect sense. There's an unknown system of reasoning going on. What else?"  
"He hates Robin?"   
"Who else hates Robin? That's how I got to the conclusion of Slade. Of course, I had to spend half of the night looking through all of his records of criminals to narrow down which ones could be holding a grudge against him." He rolled his eyes. "If only I had known it was going to be this easy..."   
"Well, we know Slade was behind it. So what? We can never find him, and Black probably doesn't remember where he was."   
"Think again. Black gives us a big hint every time he walks into the room. What cue would give away a location?"   
The team sat in silence, each thinking.   
"The singing?" Beast Boy questioned.   
"That's what I thought too, at first. But that's only half. What else is specific to Black, that is odd?"   
Starfire bolted up into the air. "His watches!"   
"Precisely! He always keeps the time. He walks into the room, and checks the clock. It's extremely subtle, but he has a unconscious time complex."   
Jason scratched his nose. "I'm afraid I'm missing something."   
Bruce exasperated. "Look, it's simple-..."   
Before he could finish, the phone rang. Bruce and Jason put on their masks while Alfred and Barbara hid behind newspapers.   
Cyborg answered the call to the monitor filling with the image of a old man with a emblem on a navy blue hat.   
"Lieutenant Cosgrove," the cybernetic teen greeted. "What can I do for you?"   
"Well, we got a report about a missing boy this morning, and while the city isn't in a state emergency, we need your help."   
"How so?"   
"You filled us in on a homeless teenager you were caring for, Black was his name?"   
"Oh, yeah. Why? Did he do something?"   
"Do you know where he is right now?"   
The teens looked at each other in embarrassment. "No sir, we had an argument last night...and he never came home..."   
"Well, the report said that a boy went missing in the middle of a baseball game while his mother was in the restroom. One of the teammates said he saw the boy leave with a teenager dressed completely in black."   
"Oh god..." Batman smacked his face.   
"And the boy has Down's syndrome, so it's assumed that the teen was trying to take advantage of him."   
"That part you don't need to worry about." Cyborg clarified. "Black is a good kid, he may only harm criminals...but I think the kid just decided to go play with him."   
"Well, we've searched the entire park, and we haven't seen him. So if you wouldn't mind joining the search, since Black is your responsibility, the mother is frantic."   
"Yes sir, we're on it." Cyborg signed off.   
Bruce stood up, taking off his cowl. "While you do that, I'm going to take a nap. I haven't slept a wink since I got here. Wake me up the moment you get back." He said sternly before leaving.   
"Alright team, let's split up. Jason, you want to come with me?"   
"Sure, let me put on my suit."   
Two hours later, Starfire found herself questioning pedestrians in the shopping district. Her search led her to an antique store on a corner. Through the window she could plainly see Black and a little boy looking at something.   
She entered the door, where it rang with a bell.   
"Black!" She half scolded.   
"Oh, howdy Star!" The teen was oblivious to the gravity of the situation as he smiled at her. "This is my little buddy, Frodo."   
"Frodrick!" The boy corrected.   
"What kind of hobbit has the name Frodrick? That just doesn't make sense!"   
"I'm not a hobbit, you dummy!"   
"Sticks and stones, how do you ever expect to save middle earth with that attitude?!"   
"Black," Starfire interrupted. "What have you been doing? You are in so much trouble!"   
He shrugged. "Nothing, really. Aren't these clocks nice? Too bad they won't fit on my arm."   
"Black, the police think you kidnapped Frodrick! Do you see how serious this is?"   
"Oh, he didn't kidnap me." Frodrick interjected. "I came willingly."   
"Well, your mother is looking for you, and she is very worried, so it is best if we get you back as soon as possible."   
"Okay..." He sighed.   
Starfire held out her hand and Frodrick took it. Black took her other one. "I like holding hands."   
The alien escorted the two to the police station where Frodrick's mom awaited. As soon as they came in, she raced to her son and hugged him.   
"Frodrick! I'm so glad to see you're alright!"   
"Hi mom." He responded casually.   
"Where were you?! What happened?!"   
"I got bored during the game, just sitting out in the field the whole time with no one to talk to. Then Black came up and we started talking. Then he said he lost his marbles, so I went with him to help him look."   
"His marbles?" The mother looked to Black.   
Starfire explained for him. "Black suffers from a form of Psychosis. Harmless, but not quite...there...?"   
"I see." The mother nodding, understanding very well. The. She addressed her son. "I'm sorry you felt lonely out there, but please, don't ever go off with a stranger ever again. I was so worried!"   
"Okay mom, sorry I worried you."   
Black watched the exchange with a stoic face. Then he knelt next to the kid and put his arm around his shoulder. "Well little hobbit, it's been a blast."   
"Thank you, Black. No one has ever understood me like you have."   
"Hey, if every pork chop were perfect, we wouldn't have hotdogs. And if that coach ever puts you in the deep left field, what are you going to do?"   
"Kick him in the nuts!"   
Black wiped an imaginary tear from his eye. "They grow up so fast!"   
While this was taking place, Starfire called everyone up on her communicator and let them know everything was being taken care of. When she came back into the group, she saw Frodrick giving Black an endearing hug that touched her heart. They said their final goodbyes and went their own ways. Starfire carried Black by the arms back to the tower.   
He screamed the whole time. At first, Star was afraid he had a newfound phobia of flight, only to find ecstatic joy on his face.   
Back at the tower, dinner was waiting for the teens.   
"Oh joyous rapture! Food! One of my favorite things!" And he dished up his plate.   
"Someone going to wake up Bruce?" Jason questioned.   
"I'll do it." Alfred volunteered and left.   
Beast Boy looked over at Black, who was praying, and then addressed Starfire. "Where did you find him?"   
"In the shop for antiques, looking at clocks."   
"Clocks huh? Did he say what he was doing?"   
"According to the little boy with him, they were looking for...marbles?"   
"Marbles? Like, the little glass balls?"   
"That is what he said."   
"Oh! Looking for marbles! Black lost his marbles!"   
"I do not get it.”  
“It’s a figure of speech.”  
“Oh, I do not like those. You say one thing, but mean another…it’s very confusing.”  
“That’s the english language for you!”   
Black butted in on the conversation to put in his own random thought. “Why are they called ‘Uggs’? You would think that in a marketing campaign, they wouldn’t name a brand something that they didn’t want a bunch of girls to call them when they saw the perfect pair of baby seals sitting on the shelf. They should call them ‘Whoo’s."  
Alfred came back into the common room. “Master Black.”   
“Yes, mom?”  
“Master Bruce requests that you get something to eat, get cleaned up and then meet him in Robin’s room. He wishes to have a discussion with him.”  
Black tweaked his nose. “Geez, do I have to?”  
“He assured me that it will be a very casual chat.”  
“Well, okie dokie then!” Black enthusiastically chowed down on his food, and changed out of his homelessness attire. He gave a thumbs up to his friends before heading to his nightmare room.  
Inside, Bruce had the bedside lamp on, and he was sitting cross-legged on the bed, in casual clothes. The atmosphere was actually pleasant, despite what Black was dreading.   
“Come, take a seat.” Bruce smiled and eased the teen.  
Black did as he was told, leaning back on his arms for support. He observed his toes. “I know what you want me to be, but I can’t.”  
“I know what you’re capable of, Black.”   
“I was talking to Alfred,” Black continued. “And he said that you guys just want to be remembered, since it’s important to love people even when they change. So if I make new memories, then we can all still be friends, right?”  
Bruce tilted his head, still a pleasant look on his face. “What creates a friendship?”  
Black paused as he considered. “I don’t know…similar interests?”  
“Experiences. We all had experiences with Richard that created a bond. We established trusts through many years of working together. We can all be friends with you Black, but it won’t be the same. We will always miss Dick.”  
Black chewed on his bottom lip. He knew Bruce was right, the man knew everything. “How do I do it, then? How do you expect me to turn back into Robin?”  
“It will be a long painful process.” He responded honestly.   
“When do I start?”  
Alfred came in a few moments later with a plate of piping hot cookies. “Chocolate chip. As you requested, Master Bruce.”  
“Thank you, Alfred.”   
Black was thankful that the so called Dark Knight was changing tactics. He wouldn’t have liked to tell Bruce what happened while he was in that cold, blinding room.   
“Why don’t you start by telling me what you were up to last night, after you left us?”  
“Well,” He took a cookie. “There were some very important matters to attend to. First of all, I had to say hi to the Frau.”  
“The…Frau?”  
“Yeah, she’s this little old German lady who always yells at me when I hang out in her alley way. She’s meaner then rapid dachshund  
on wednesday, but she makes the best apple pie.”  
“So she feeds you?”  
“No, I swipe pies when they’re cooling in the windowsill. I dropped in and she actually didn’t yell at me…she was more surprised that I had been missing for a few days. And I told her I wouldn’t be swiping her pies anymore. Most likely.”   
Bruce shook his head with a hint of amusement on his face. “Then what?”  
“Then I had to go get my Valium.”  
Bruce gave him a stern look.   
“Hey, I took heed to what you said, and I’m going to ween off of it, but I was going through some serious withdrawals, so I had to go see ol’ Uncle Brad.”  
“And whose he?”  
“He’s just a bang beat, bell ringing, big haul, great go, neck or nothing, rip roaring, every time a bull's eye pharmacist.”  
“And he just hands out drugs without a script?”  
“No…he knows my story, so he gives me one at a time so I don’t abuse it.”  
"I still don't know how I feel about it. What else did you do?"   
"I was just going to stroll around town, but then I got caught up in a whirl wind drug lord adventure,"   
"You're kidding..."   
"I do not kid, Brucie! There was this drug deal going on, and I busted it up, but they got really mad, so we got into a fist fight. Then the pigs showed up, so they tied me up and stowed me in the trunk of a car. Then we drove somewhere outside of town, where a bigger deal was going down. I wasn't really paying attention, so I didn't hear all the terms of agreement, but I was being included as a slave or something."  
Bruce rolled his eyes in exasperation. This was crazy.   
"But then, somebody was double crossed, and got shot in the back of the head. His brains spattered on my face!"   
“Eeeuuu…."   
"So I made my escape while everyone was crying like little babies."  
"Oh, good."   
"Then I hitchhiked back into town and found a nice park bench to sleep on."  
"You didn't want to come back here?"   
"Nah, not after considering the long swim."   
"So you slept out in the park...you didn't have other place to go?"   
Black looked at him with one raised eyebrow. "I like it here, but if I had had another place to go when my hat was destroyed, I would have gone there."   
"I see."   
Black shoved a cookie in his mouth as he twitted his toes. Bruce could see his seriousness was fading fast and if he didn't do something about it, he wouldn't get any information out of him.   
"You know you can talk to me about anything." He stated.   
"Like what?" Black looked at him seriously. "I know you want to know stuff. I just don't know where to start."   
Bruce smiled kindly. "Why don't you start at the first memories you had as Black? How did you get the name?"   
"Well, I was wearing all black clothes, and the gangsters on the street called me that when I first started out."   
"As a crime fighter?"   
"Actually..." Black scratched his head sheepishly. "I started out as a thief...I was stealing stuff for my masters."   
Now Bruce was alert. "You had masters? What were they like?"   
"I could never see them, because I was either in blinding light or total darkness."   
"Can you tell me anything about them?"   
"If I heard either voice, I could point them out."   
"How did you meet these masters?"   
"I don't remember...I was with them for a long time, I suppose."   
"What kinds of things did they have you steal?"   
"...stuff."   
Bruce simpered at the boy, reading his nervous expression. "I personally guarantee you will not be in trouble for anything. I just want to see if we can find their identities."   
"Why? You don't want to give me back to them, do you?"   
"No! To arrest them!"   
"Oh....well...computer chips...for one thing. And a small machine...I don't remember what it was for, but they had me be very careful with it."   
"Do you remember where you stole the items from?"   
Black listed off a dozen different labs and facilities and then ended with, "and Wayne enterprises."   
It didn't surprise Bruce in the least. He then realized he was digging for facts only. And emotionless information was not going to get him what he wanted.   
"Alright Black. Do you think you can tell me a bit about your experience with these men? How did they treat you?"   
"They were mean." The boy pulled his legs into his chest, his childlike demeanor showing once again.   
"What did they do? What made them mean?"   
"They called me names...and hurt me."   
"Black, I know it's painful, but the more specific you are, the more helpful it will be."   
Black laid out on his back, crossed his legs and twiddled his thumbs. He spoke with his eyes closed. "There were twenty of us. The place they kept us was cold and had no windows. They made us wear these degrading outfits...white shirts that barely went past the hips. It was very noisy in there, day and night."   
"Anything specific you can remember about it?"   
"There were clocks everywhere. All different times. Always ticking...driving me mad! Light grey cement floors, rusted hinges on the doors..."   
"What about the others? Do you remember names? Faces?"   
"We had no names. Only numbers. I was 8162. It was always too bright or too dark to see faces. I didn't have any friends though, nobody cared about each other."  
"What were living conditions like? Did you have a cell?"   
"Some nights, they put us in a room with five beds, and we had to fight for them. One guy had his eye poked out in the chaos. Then other nights they put us in a tight space, and we had to huddle together to stay warm. One time I woke up and nudged the guy next to me...but he was dead. Frozen to death. Other guys lost fingers and toes on those nights."   
Bruce stayed silent and just waited for him to divulge what he needed to. “They marched us to a bathroom once a day. They stripped us and tied chains to our feet and put bags over our heads…then we walked blindly for a long time. Then we were told to do your business, still with the bags on and chained to each other. There was only one bathroom break, so if you had to go, it was then that you did it. Otherwise you had to hold it or crap in the corner. We collected filth on our feet and legs and everything smelled.  
"They humiliated us...called us names, made us feel like animals. They worked us too, made us carry weights for long periods of time, and made us hold our hands over our heads for hours. They would beat us for punishment, and chastise us verbally…using very strong language. They pointed out our flaws and made us feel weak and useless. I have scars on my scars from them. Then if you said anything wrong, you were put into solitary confinement. Then they beat the other prisoners outside of the hole, and you could hear their screams of pain…the other boys hit the door and shouted out profanity and said how much they hated whoever was in the hole for getting them in trouble.”  
“Were you ever put in the hole?”  
“Everyone was. I was doing pushups and singing Amazing Grace, when one of my masters asked me why I was being so obedient. I told him I was obedient by nature, and he called me a liar…then he threw me in the hole for four days.”   
“Four days?!” That seemed much too excessive for Bruce.  
“It was almost three, but my freedom depended on the other prisoners. The masters said if everyone was willing to give up their blankets, I would be let out.”  
“How many sacrificed?”  
“None.”  
Bruce lowered his head in sadness. “Did anyone get out?”  
Black was silent a long time, then spoke with a raw voice. “There was one boy…he barricaded himself in the cell and he shouted and screamed and raved like a madman. Something about needing a doctor…So the masters let him out and we all though he was being set free. But when that iron door swung closed…we heard a gunshot and that was it.”  
Bruce again was silent.  
“Then there was the food. We started out on bread and water...and then over time they gave us meat. Just meat, no vegetables or even bread. It was boiled, but tasted like pork…and they let us eat as much as we wanted. I distinctly remember one boy eating so much that he puked…” Black swallowed deeply. “Then someone freaked out, because they realized they were chewing on a finger. And then we all found out that the boys who had died had not been buried…but we were eating them…”  
Bruce covered his mouth in sickness.  
“Some cried. Others made themselves vomit. I just curled up in a corner an decided I would never eat again.”  
Bruce sighed. This was unbelievable. The fact that evil like this existed just made his skin crawl.   
Black brought his hands up to his face. “They injected us with poison.” He continued. “I don’t know what it was, but it glowed green in the syringe and we could see it in our veins. It burned, and turned us insane. I swear that how all of this happened. They shot us up three times daily. It had different effects on each of us. One boy dropped dead. Another started eating himself…bit the skin clear off his arm.”   
Bruce watched in amazement as Black relied his story with no emotion on his face. As for him, he was white knuckling a pillow, trying to keep his anger in check.   
“Sometimes at night, if I listened just hard enough…I could hear singing. I think it came from my own mind, my subconscious. But it was the most wonderful thing I had heard in the world.”  
“Black…how many boys survived? Do you know?”  
The teen was quiet a long time and Bruce wondered if he had spoken too softly, but then he saw the glistening on his cheeks. Black was crying in silent mourning. “I survived. 19 died.”   
Bruce took a slow breath, digesting all this information. “I have one more question for you.”  
“Okay.”   
“What made you become a crime fighter?”  
“Part of my Psychosis is voices in my head.” Black admitted. “They tell me to do mean and awful things…I started to rebel against them, and now they don’t bother me.” He wiped his cheek with the back of his hand.   
Bruce saw the gesture. “Alright Black, we’ve had a very nice talk. I’m glad you could open up to me. You’ve had a long day, so I’ve going to let you get some rest.” Bruce stood and Black did the same.  
Before the man could question him, Black’s arms were around his waist. “Daddy.” Black said firmly.  
“Latency.” Bruce said coldly, but not pushing him off. “You’re projecting again. You know I’m not you’re father.”  
“But you acted like it.” Black said firmly. “Back when you first took me in, you would hold me when I cried. I may be older, and I may be crazy…but don’t take that sweet memory away…”  
Bruce sighed and held the boy for a moment. “It’s going to be okay. You’re safe now.”   
Black nodded against him and pulled away. “Yeah…I have Batman protecting me.”


	8. Chapter 8

The next day, the team collectively sat in the common room in silence. Bruce had told them the basics of what had happened, but dared not go into detail. Some of them wouldn’t be able to handle it. Black had slept in Robin’s room last night, as per Bruce’s suggestion. It seemed that after his retelling of his tortures, he seemed to overcome his fears of that room. 

“It is almost noon, and he has not yet emerged.” Worried the alien.

“I doubt if he slept at all last night.” Bruce acknowledged. “I know I didn’t.”

It was just then that the doors to the common room swished open.” Everyone turned to look.

“Dude…” Beast Boy breathed. Bruce dropped his coffee cup. Barbara tried to stand.

In the doorway stood a proud young man, adored with a brightly colored uniform of red, green, and yellow. His hair was perfectly spiked, and a wry smile shone like a beacon on his face.

“Black?” Asked Cyborg.

“No.” the boy clenched his fists. “It’s Robin.”

Smiles and cheers broke out around the room. Starfire flew at high speed and knocked him off his feet in a bone crushing hug. 

For the first time in a long time, Bruce let his emotions cloud his judgement. He started for the boy, but then logic kicked in. There was no way he had recovered that fast, especially since his chemicals were still off balanced. 

“Please,” Robin spoke up, gathering everyone’s attention. “There’s still some fuzziness in my memory, so if you could bare with me…”

“Of course!” Said the changeling, clapping him on the back. “We’re here for you buddy! Just glad to have you back.”

The slightest look of disappointment flashed across his face, and it did not go missed by Bruce. “Well, we’ll have to train you all over again. To fight like you used to.”

He scratched the back of his head. “Is there anything worth integrating what skills I’ve developed? As I recall, it’s been effective.”

“But it’s not how we do things.” Bruce said more stern.

“Right, yes sir.” 

As the little celebration was happening, Bruce slunk back and sided with Alfred.

“Everything alright sir?”

“No.” He crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. “We’re not out of the woods yet.”

The day progressed, Robin being a little unsteady in his own shoes, and everyone began to shrug it off. Unfortunately, they all assumed he was just getting used to being himself again. 

As he had finally got a moment alone, he paced the halls, just breathing. Around the corner, Starfire started to come towards him. And idea came over him and he smiled at her. 

“Hey Star!” 

“Hello Robin!” She eagerly replied. “It is so good to have you back, we sure did miss you!”

“Did you not like Black?”

“I liked him fine, he just…was not you.”

“I understand,” he nodded. “Can I…tell you something?” He came closer to her. 

“You can tell me anything.” She grinned.

“I’ve been here the whole time.” He narrowed his eyes behind the mask, but it went unnoticed by her. “But you’ve been so far from me.”

She shrugged, unknowing what else to do. “I am here now.”

“Yes,” he chuckled, “and we are alone.” He backed her against the wall. 

As soon as she felt the wall behind her, her smile faded. 

“I love you, Star.” He confessed. Then, without permission, he leaned in and kissed her. When he pulled away, he looked at her with a smug look on his face. But tears were in her eyes.

“You are not Robin.” She stated. 

“Of course I am.” He urged, hurt. “You all have been telling me that I was for weeks now.”

“Well, you are, but…” She couldn’t find the words.

He cupped her cheek. “Do you love me?”

“I love Robin.” She stated firmly. 

He closed his eyes in shame. “Fine then. Don’t believe me. Be my guest.” He pulled away and started down the hall without looking back. Then he finished with, “Robin loves you, too.” 

Starfire never said a word to any of the other titans, afraid to ruin their happiness. And maybe she was wrong, maybe if Robin was back, but held firm to Black’s confidence. Either way, she was feeling better about the situation as she watched Batman and Robin train together in the gym. There was a seriousness in his demeanor that had not been there before. No singing this time, but the insane moves that Black had been accustomed to slipped in every once in a while. 

With no further warning, sirens were blaring, alerting the team to distress.

“Titans!” Robin yelled out, like old times. “Let’s go!”

“No,” Bruce said. 

“Yes!” He argued back. “I need to lead my team, you want me to remember faster don’t you? Then let me go, and stay out of our way!”

With that, the five teens fled into battle. 

“Cyborg, break it down.” Robin ordered as they drove into the city.

“Reports say that the criminal escaped after stealing a precious jewel from the museum, after tripping an alarm set under the jewel.”

“And description?”

“A woman, all in red, short cropped hair, Russian accent, shape shifter.”

“Madam Rouge.” Robin growled. 

“The old theme park is across from the museum, she may be hiding there.” Raven speculated.

Beast Boy groaned from the back seat. “Why do all the villains hide out there? I hate that place.”

“We’ll get her.” Robin said confidently. 

“Dude, do you even have a plan? You know how hard she is to fight!” 

“I know. Even if we can’t capture her, we need to retrieve the jewel. I’ll use some of my ice discs, Cyborg, if you lend me a hand with your sonic cannon, we should be able to stop her in her tracks.

“Raven, Starfire, I need you two to distract her from the sky. Hit her with everything you’ve got. Keep her concentrated on you. Beast Boy, I need you to use stealth and retrieve the jewel.”

“How do we even know if this is where she is?” Star asked. 

“It’s the best place to hide in the city. Besides, her pride won’t allow her to hide for long.”

The car came to a halt outside of the old park. 

Moments after a long and unexpected fight, four teens laid on the ground in defeat. They severely underestimated her capacity to multitask. None of the teens had even touched her, but she certainly touched them; pressure points and fatal spots. 

“You fool titans! Thinking you could beat me so easily!” Then a final resolution came over her. “Where is your leader?” Of course, she wasn’t afraid. He had no powers after all, and he would be no challenge to beat alone.

“Dude…” Beast Boy groaned, nursing his stomach. “He didn’t ditch us…did he?”

Suddenly, the lights turned on over the entire park. Rides activated and creepy, out of tune music echoed all around. The speaker system came to life with high ringing. 

“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!” A familiar voice shouted. “Welcome! Let’s party!"

Madam Rouge readied herself. “So, this is the mysterious insane hero I have heard so much about. Come out and fight me! Or I’ll kill the Titans!”

A wicked cackle came out from the darkness. “You don’t have the guts!” 

“Try me!” 

Four birdarangs aimed at her from all different directions, but she knocked them easily out of the air. 

“You thought that would stop me?! You’re more foolish then I thought!” 

Suddenly, smoke leaked out of the rangs and surrounded her. 

“I can still fight without seeing, you know!”

Then from the speakers came a horrendous blench that echoed on and on, hurting everyones ears. That’s when Black swooped in a stood in front of her. She had just enough time to widen her eyes before he punched her in the gut and returned to the shadows.

The thief grimaced, but hissed in reply. “That will be your only hit you fool!” 

“And how many hits have you given me?” He snarked back. 

“Only a coward hides behind tricks! Come and fight me!”

“Correction, a wise man hides to fight another day.” 

“You don’t seem so tough. All you do is talk. If you really want to stop me, why don’t you do something about it?”

“Who said I was trying to stop you?”

Madam Rouge took an unsteady step backwards. 

“Let me correct that.” He spoke from the smoke. “Who said I wasn’t trying to kill you?”

Gunshots rained out from the clouds. 

“Holy crap! He’s got a gun!” Cyborg ducked in terror.

“Who gave the psychopath a gun!?” Beast Boy cried.

Black’s laughter boomed as more random shots went out. “I’M BACK!!” 

Madam Rouge still managed to dodge every single one. “You’ll not beat me with bullets.”

“Oh, there’s more then that, sweetie.” A skin crawling giggle vomited from his mouth.  

Raven covered her friends with a protective barrier before an explosion went of. 

“A fricken' bomb?! Black! What are you doing?!”

The teen just kept laughing as he moved through the park, his smoke clearing. Madam Rouge made a run for it. 

“It’s show time!” More explosions went off as Madam Rouge came to a stand off with the boy.

She stared him down, her outwards appearance not showing the true fear she was experiencing. This boy was not human.

Black tilted his head as he smiled at her with his wild eyes. “Won’t you play a game with me?” Seemingly out of no where, he withdrew a knife and licked it. 

“No.” She launched her hand out to attack at the same time the knife went sailing through the air.

The Russian was much more capable of fighting, and that was evident by the sharp, blade like fingers that tore through his arm, leg, and side. She expected him to scream or double down in pain, but he simply looked at her and ground his teeth, still smiling.

She retracted her hand quickly. “He’s mad! Utterly insane!” She dropped the jewel and withdrew into the shadows. 

Black seemed to take notice to his wounds and looked down. He pressed a hand and observed the red liquid upon it. As soon as he realized it was blood, his mouth let out a choking sob. He sunk to his knees and then onto the ground where he rolled and howled in pain. 

“MOMMY! MOMMY!! IT HURTS! MOMMMY!” He shrieked. Hopeless, he flailed his arms and pounded against the ground. 

The teens looked in sorrow. Back to stage one.

Starfire approached him and knelt, touching his shoulder. “Black, we are going home now. We are going to get you healed.”

Black nodded, reaching out his hands for her. She lifted him and cradled him. 

Back at the tower, Black sat highly sedated in the medical room, stitches in his sides.

“I knew it.” Bruce sighed. “He was just pretending, just to make us happy.”

“How are we to get him to return?”

“I suppose tomorrow, we start him on a treatment for his thiamine low. After we fix that, he may get better.”

“Haven’t we waited long enough?” Beast Boy shrugged. “What if he never gets better? We can’t just put him out on the streets! He can’t fend for himself!”

Bruce stood and shouted. “I know! Okay?! We’re not going to put him out. He deserves better then that. We’ll find him something.” He looked pointedly to Barbara.

“Don’t look at me.” She raised her hands defensively. “I have all my sanity.”

“Dick’s too important to us to just put him out on the streets.” Bruce sighed, “I don’t know what to do anymore. I thought he was getting better…” He took a seat in the medical room and put his head in his hands. Everyone else stayed quiet, too afraid to disturb him. Then he spoke, “He said something about his ‘masters’ injecting him with poison. Why don’t we do a blood test tomorrow and see if that makes a difference.”

Tired and relieved sighs went around the room as they all got up and left. When he was alone, Bruce approached his injured son, checked his bandages, and gave him a soft pat on the head. 

“You’ll be fine.”

Morning rolled around, and Bruce was the first one in the medical room. Black was still laying down, but he looked around the room. 

“Hey there,” Bruce spoke casually. “How you feeling?”

“I feel like a nice tub of good things.” Then he winced. “Owie.”

“Do you remember what happened last night?”

Black looked at the ceiling and tapped his fingers on the mattress. “Yeah. I was being stupid and careless.”

He took that as an apology for scaring him half to death. 

Cyborg came in next, followed by a sleepy Beast Boy. “So, did you start yet?”

“Nope, just came in. He seems to be doing better.”

“Oh good,” Cyborg said as he prepared a syringe.

“Why are you in here?” Bruce asked the green boy. “It’s not like you’re forbidden, but I don’t think this interests you.”

“It may not.” Confessed Beast Boy, “But I get great enjoyment out of Black’s clever quips.”

“So, you’re basically being the good friend now?”

“Yeppers.”

Black looked between the three. “What are you guys talking about? What are you doing?”

“We’re going to run a blood test. I want to see if you have any trace of that poison you were telling me about.”

“Oooooooooooohhhhhh.” 

“So why don’t you just relax, and I’ll just stick this in your arm.” Bruce wiped his skin with an alcohol swab.

“OO! It’s cold!” Black laughed.

“This may pinch a bit.” And he stuck the needle through his flesh.

Black was silent for two seconds before screaming like a baby. Bruce filled the syringe and pulled it out quickly.

“PINCH? PINCH!?” Black snapped out his hand and pinched Bruce in the arm. “That’s a PINCH! You stabbed me with a tiny sword.”

Bruce was unfazed as he rubbed his arm. “Well, I’m sorry you’re so sensitive.” He looked over to Beast Boy who was giggling. "Hey kid, why don't you go ask Alfred to make Black some breakfast." 

Beast Boy saluted. "Aye aye capi-tan!" He left. 

Cyborg and Bruce went to work deciphering the chemicals in the blood that were not supposed to be there. Cyborg left after not so long to help on a mission, and Bruce was alone. Black's body needed time to heal, so he slept on. 

Late afternoon rolled on and the teens came back. Titans, Jason, Barbara, and Alfred crowded into the medical room to visit the invalid. 

"How are you feeling?" Starfire asked. 

"Everything is hunky dunky!" He cheered before wincing. "I'm fine on the inside at least. I got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart!" He sang. "Then you say, 'where'," he told Beast Boy. 

"Where?" Beast Boy smiled.

"Down in my heart!”

“Where?”

“Down in my heart to staaaaaay! 

Meanwhile, Bruce sat with his head on his hands, miserable. 

"Everything okay?" Cyborg asked coming up behind him. 

"I figured it out." Bruce groggily replied. 

"Oh good, what is it?" 

Black continued to sing. "And I'm so happy! So very happy! I have the love of Jesus in my H-E-A-R-T, and I'm so happy! So very happy! I have the love of Jesus in my heeeeaaarttt!" 

Bruce spoke louder. "Eleven percent sodium hydroxide, thirty four percent sulfuric acid, five percent hexavalent chromium solution, and zinc sulfide doped with copper."

"What? I've never heard of that combination before..."

"Yes, extremely rare, but there is one thing that's bothering me..." 

"I've got the peace that passes understanding down in my heart!" 

"Where?" 

"Down in my heart!" 

"Where?" 

"Down in my heart!" 

"There's an ingredient missing from this." He continued. 

Cyborg waited, seeing the wheels in his head turning. 

"The derivative of diazepam. I believe what we're looking at is a binary compound. The toxin adjusts the Troponin levels, but masks the effects with an hallucinogen. The later compound, was the activating."

"So, you're saying that the missing ingredient is a anxiolytic?"

"Precisely. Toxin 32 can't function without it."

"Toxin 32?" 

"I'm the expert on this toxin." He narrowed his eyes. "I've only seen one person effected by it." 

"Besides Black?" 

Bruce rubbed his face, obviously frustrated. "A normal, ordinary man came in contact with this, and he turned into the Joker." 

"I've got the wonderful love of my blessed redeemer way down in the depths of my heart!" 

"Where?" 

"Down in the depths of my heart!”

"WHERE?!”

“Down in the depths of my heart!!"

The teen was obviously in shock, not really knowing what to say. "So, where’s he getting the diazepam?" Cyborg questioned.

“The valium.”

“Oh…” The cybernetic teen scrunched his nose. “So, if we just keep him off of it…?"

"In theory, it would work, the side effects will negate, but we need a equal dose of sodium thiosulfate to neutralize the sulfuric acid and hydrochloric acid to neutralize the sodium hydroxide.”

“What about the hexavalent chromium and zinc sulfide?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out…”

"And I'm so happy! So very happy! I have the love of Jesus in my H-E-A-R-T, and I'm so hap-…”

Bruce turned around, having enough. “Black! For once in your existence, will you just shut up and let me think?!”

The boy was still as the grave, hurt and terrified.

“I need to get out of here. I can’t look at him.” Batman declared as he stormed out.

“It is the ‘oh' and ‘kay’, Black.” Starfire said, trying to comfort him. “He did not mean it.”

Black’s eyes narrowed. “Oh, I know exactly what he meant.”

 


	9. Chapter 9

Starfire burst into the room. “Mr. Batman! He is gone!” She cried.

All at once, everyone in the room looked at her and Bruce stood. “What are you talking about?” Though, he already knew.

“I went to check in on Black this morning, and he was gone!”

Bruce frowned hard and headed for the door. “Of course he is.” 

Starfire followed him out. “Where could he have gone?”

“I fear that he went to find his captors. Maybe to join up with them, maybe to get his sanity back. I only hope me don’t have a second joker on our hands.” He slipped into the room he was borrowing, and then was back out in his uniform within a minute. 

“We know that Slade was one of the captors, according to the tattoo on Black’s back, but would the Joker be responsible for the poison?” 

“I’m afraid so.” He came back into the common room and tapped into the computer using a flash drive. “The Joker broke out of Arkham earlier this year, but there was no sign to where he went. I figured he was planning something, but I never thought he would target Robin.”

Cyborg answered. “Maybe Slade contacted him. He could have thought of the plan…after all, he’s tried the whole apprentice shtick before and it only worked because of blackmail.”

“That doesn’t explain the other 19 boys apart of the experiment.” Raven added. 

“Unless they were just normal boys.” Beast Boy shrugged. “Robin could have disguised himself as one of the prisoners and snuck in to find out what they were doing.”

Bruce nodded. “And he got caught before he could take them out. Of course!”

“I wonder if Slade knew he would do that…”

“Don’t you see? Slade paired up with the Joker to create a group of perfect minions, all to be led and charged by the leader of the Titans. They may not have anticipated the toxicity of the poison.”

“So,” Cyborg crossed his arms. “Now we know the ‘who’ and ‘why’, now we just need to figure out the ‘where’.”

Bruce typed a bit before a map came up. “Give the clues we have, Black will be in one of these places. Split up and find him. If you run into Slade or Joker, do not engage, pursue and send for back up, is that clear?”

The team nodded. 

“Alright, Jason, you’re with me. Let’s go.”

The duo raced to the bat mobile and took off through the underwater tunnels. 

“Where are we going Bruce?” 

“Our location was not on the map, and I have a feeling that’s where Black went first.”

“And where is that?”

“The clock tower.”

Jason blinked. “That’s so obvious though…”

“So obvious that we’d overlook it.” 

“Shouldn’t we tell the other’s where we went?”

“No.” He said simply. 

The car stopped a block up from the tower and they traveled by rooftop to get inside. Batman whispered to Jason, “No sound.”

Jason replied with an okay sign. Bruce picked the lock on the door and opened it carefully. The two slunk inside, quietly and stayed in the shadows. 

“Hello?” Black’s voice called. “I know you’re here!” But the tone in his voice, he had been searching for a while. “I just want answers. Please!”

Suddenly, a blinding spotlight landed on the boy and he hid behind his arm. 

“Well, well. Prisoner 8162, it’s good to see you. We didn’t think you’d come back. Especially with your new found fame and friends.”

“I have no friends!” Black painfully spat out. 

Bruce felt guilt, but he was still attentive.

“What answers were you looking for, boy?” A different voice spoke.

“Who are you?”

“Your masters. That all you ever needed to know.”

Black panted heavily as he looked into the dark. “Why did you do this to me? Why?”

“To give you purpose. You were made to be evil.”

“But I’m not! You’ve seen what I’ve been doing! And…why does it feel like I’m incomplete?”

There was a deep throaty chuckle from the other side of the room. “That’s because you are, darling boy!” 

Another light switched on as a hand held up a stuffed doll.

“White…” Black breathed.

“You remember, don’t you? All your goodness, everything nice and kind about you is trapped in here. That’s why you’re insane. You cast it all of to avoid the guilt. You can do whatever you want now, because there’s nothing to hold you back. We don’t need you anymore.”

The other voice spoke. “Go, be free, and wreck havoc on this festering city.”

“But…White…”

“You don’t need it anymore.” 

With that, Black burst out of the tower. 

Jason looked at Bruce for a plan. He gestured to the Joker while he disappeared toward Slade.

“This was fun, we should do it again sometime, Slade.”

“Yes, it was an interesting experiment. I was surprised to see Robin succumb to the toxin that easily.”

The Joker laughed. “Toxin 32 is quite the doozy! And I would know!”

The heroes struck at the same time, coming up behind the villains. The Joker was never one for fighting, and with enough hits, the was down and Jason was able to tie him up. 

During this, Slade had his hands full with Batman. The two were a match made in hell, and fighting in the dark didn’t help. Jason came in to aid, jumping on Slade’s back and pulling him into a headlock. 

With his freehand, Slade nailed Robin in the gut twice until he let go. The villain dodged the oncoming attack from Bats, spun on his heel, and sent his foot into Jason’s temple, knocking out the teen.

“Robin!” Batman shouted. Just that little distraction, and Slade was gone. 

Bruce sighed in anger as Jason recovered just a few minutes later. “Did we get him?”

"We got one.” He stepped over and placed a foot solidly on Joker’s back. “I’ll call the other’s. You call the police to have this dirtbag picked up.” He kicked him in the side.

The calls took place, and while Batman talked, Jason found evidence on the ground. He pick up the doll. It was all white, no face, no clothing, just five lumps sewn on a bigger lump.

“What are we going to do with this?” Jason asked after Bruce hung up.

Batman took White. “Keep it. We may need it to persuade Black to come back with us.”

“How are we going to find him?”

“Unfortunately, it’s not going to be that hard.” 

The communicator on Batman’s belt rang. It was Alfred. “Sir! There’s been a carjacking. Description, white sedan. The thief was a teen all in black. Seen heading south on Hinchmen.”

“On it!”

“The man had firearms in the vehicle.” 

Batman sighed. “Let’s go.” And the duo were soon in pursuit.

Cyborg’s voice came over the intercom in the car. “I’ve locked onto your position, I’ll meet up with you.”

“Alright.” Batman then connected to all the communicators. “Black is armed, so be careful. There’s no telling what he’ll do. He may hurt you to protect himself.”

“Then what’s the plan?” Raven droned.

Bruce frowned hard. “Take him down. He’s a criminal now.”

The chase continued over the city, despite having a easily seen vehicle, his driving eluded the heroes at every turn. 

"Master Bruce, the sedan's been spotted. It’s crashed into a jewelry store on 7th st." 

"On it." The Batmobile turned sharply and caught up quickly with the car. "Stay on your toes." He warned Jason. 

Apparently, Alfred had given the tip to everyone as the rest of the teens soon closed in on the area. The car was empty, and the back door open. 

"Up there!" Starfire shouted, pointing onto a church a few buildings down. 

She sped ahead and stopped him first, with glowing hands and glowing eyes. "Stop." A flash of Deja Vu came over her as she stared him down. "You are surrounded." 

Black turned to see all his exits covered and each hero armed. He quickly withdrew two guns to match, pointing them at anyone who moved. "Don't move! I-I'll shoot!" 

"No you won't." Batman countered. 

Black shot at his feet. "That was a warning. Let me go if you know what's good for you." 

"We know what is good for you." Starfire spoke, confusing his focus. "This is not you. Black, you are good. We have seen the good you have done." 

"No, there's no good in me!" He argued. 

"Black," Batman spoke. "You did good without White." He held out the doll. "A person's moral code does not depend on tangible things. You know what you're doing is wrong. You've had that instilled in you since you were young. What would your parents say?" 

"My parents are dead!" He shouted, his gun shaking. 

"Maybe to earth, but you've told me that you do your best because their looking down at you from heaven. We can fix this, we can help you, just come with us." He held out his hand. 

Black looked at all of his friends, a pleading look on every face. He could feel disappointment coming off of them in waves. He had caused it. They were ashamed of him.

Black threw the weapons down and bolted for a spire of the church, breaking through the stain glass window. 

"Surround the building," Batman commanded. "Don't let him out." 

The church was searched thoroughly, but the black haired teen was no where to be found. 

"He got out, sir." Beast Boy reported. 

Batman scratched chin. "Have everyone spread out. We have to find him. He’s unstable, and who knows what he’ll do.”

“He couldn’t have gone too far.” Cyborg fiddled with something on his wrist.

“Cy, didn’t you give him a communicator earlier, so he could stay in contact?” Beast Boy asked. 

“Yeah, but the tracker isn’t working. He must have disabled it.”

Batman and Robin continued down the alleyways, sticking to the shadows where Black was most likely to hide.

“How did you know he wasn’t going to shoot?” Asked Jason.

“Cognitive dissonance. It’s when a person holds two conflicting beliefs or ideas, and does nothing to stop the fight between them. In this instance, it’s plain that Black knows what he’s doing is wrong, but he feels obligated to continue, because of what Joker and Slade did to him.”

“What do you think will happen?”

“We can only hope he burns out before he hurts someone, or himself.”

His communicator rang. “What do you have?” He asked.

It was Raven. “According to passerby’s, he was seen driving off uptown.” 

"Alright. We'll meet you there." He said as they ran back to the Batmobile in silence. Once inside, Batman started the ignition. 

"Bats, what is he going to do?" 

Bruce was quiet while the car started and sped into the night. "I don't know." 

Starfire had gotten the message and was scouring the city from overhead. She had grown to love Jump, despite it's crime rate and rude people. Often, she would try to go out flying when Robin had first gone missing, in order to clear her head, and maybe even get a glimpse of him. Now, here she was, searching for him once again. Her mind played tricks on her, and frequently she saw streaks of color in her peripheral vision. She would turn, only to see a sign instead. She sighed heavily and continued on. 

Suddenly her communicator rang. All of them rang. Popping it open, they were greeted with a blank screen. 

"Hello?" Batman's deep voice asked. 

There was a choking sob from the other line. "I'm sorry..." 

"Where are you?" 

"All I've done is been a burden. I...I can't make up for what I've done." 

"It is alright! Please, just come with us." 

"I've been foolish." He continued. "All I've ever done since I can remember is listen to others. I haven't made my own decisions. Each time I do something, I cause pain for someone. I can't listen to anyone!" 

"Black, calm down, man." Cyborg stated. 

"Shut up and let me talk!" He shouted. "I genuinely thought you cared about me! I thought you guys liked me!" 

"We do! We love you!" Starfire shouted back. 

"Then why are you trying to change me? Why can't you just love me for me?!" His voice sounded broken. 

"Black, where are you? Let's talk." Batman remained calm. 

"We're talking now." Black acidly spat. 

"Okay Black, now, why don't you think? Do you really want to keep running? Do you want to be alone?" 

"I'm not running, not anymore." 

"Then you are coming back with us?" Starfire asked, hopeful.

"No." He said sadly. 

"Then what are you-...?" He couldn't answer his question as Jason smacked his arm and pointed out the window. 

"Goodbye." 

Like a blade of grass blowing in the wind, Black stood alone on a rooftop, swaying forward gently.

"RICHARD!" 

Batman leapt from the car and ran, but it was too late. Black started to plummet towards the unforgiving sidewalk. The Dark Knight charged forward, but the crowd watching, uncaring, refused to move. 

"Move aside! I need to save my son! Move it!" He screamed as he retched the people away by the shoulders. 

Two feet. He was two feet away when the boys body slammed into the ground. He felt the impact. 

His limbs bounced like rubber on the cement, his clenched fists falling slack. The air in his lungs spilled out in a rush of splintering ribs and cracking vertebrae. Cold blue eyes stared into his own, blind...dead. 

The revered hero shouted to the heavens as he crouched in pain. "I could have saved him! I could have saved him!!" 

Blood dribbled from his lips and pooled around his head. 

Jason came up behind Batman, at a loss for words. The crowd, however, moved in. Doctor's and nurses were tending as Bruce looked on, guilt like a heavy blanket on his shoulders.

Many long and agonizing hours of surgery later, Black was back in the medical room. His paper white skin matched the bleached sheets and stained bandages. His thin hands looked calm for once, resting on the cotton. Peaceful breaths raised and lowered his chest. 

Bruce sat in a chair on one side, while Starfire sat on the other. Both had been awake since the accident. The alien had been hysterical when she saw the body and it took all sorts of strength from everyone to hold her back. 

The doctors had declared that he would live, but what condition of life he would have, they didn't know. He had died, technical, from shock. But they had brought him back, a miracle, someone had said. Bruce believed it, despite his belief in those kinds of things. 

It was now late at night, Starfire and Bruce were the only ones left awake. They waited for any sort of sign from the boy. 

"And He walks with me, and He talks with me, And He tells me I am His own; And the joy we share as we tarry there, None other has ever known." Bruce sang softly. 

"That is his hymn?" It was more of a statement then a question. 

"I know the whole thing from him. It's funny...I've been worried about him this whole time, but now, I feel...ambitious." He confessed.

"Maybe...maybe all you need, all any of us need, is faith the size of a mustard seed.” 

Bruce smiled at her optimism. Now he understood why Robin liked her so much, it was important to have someone to depend on during the stress of fighting and being involved in the crime scene. That’s what Alfred had always been good at. But, this young teenage alien maybe the staple in his life that he needed. 

Judging by the misty look in her eyes, he was right.

Bruce needed a moment, just to get out of the room smelling of latex and disinfectant. 

“I’m going to grab some coffee, need anything?” He asked as he stood.

“I do not desire anything, thank you.” The red head smiled kindly.

He left calm but started to shake as he went out into the hall. 

“What’s wrong with me?” He wondered quietly. He’d see his fair share of deaths and suicides. Maybe because it was Dick…maybe because it was his fault.

He shook his head at these negative thoughts an continued down the hall.

Jason was leaning just outside the common room, a cigarette in hand…er, in mouth. 

“Jason." Bruce said in a low voice. 

He knew that tone and dug his heels in to balance himself. "Ready." 

The man turned his hips, and in one swift motion, he decked the boy in the jaw. Jason wiped the blood from his lip and looked back to his grieving mentor. "Better?"

"I'm back." He said, still solemn. "I'm...I'm okay." 

"It's okay to be upset. You just saw him..." He swallowed, truly still in shock. "We just saw him..."

“No, really. I think everything’s going to be okay.”

Jason raised his eyebrows. “You, optimistic? Is the world ending?”

Bruce gave a half smile. “I think this was really a wake up call. This whole experience. It goes to show that I’ve been ignoring my son.” Then he reached out and rubbed Jason’s head. “Both of my sons.”

Jason smirked. “I could always use more attention.”

“Good, then put out that cigarette. You’re smoking in someone’s home, were you raised in a barn?”

Jason rolled his eyes. “Close enough.” He muttered.

It was several days before doctors allowed Black to undergo thiamine treatment, and it was still several days after that that improvement was beginning to show. Bruce sent Alfred, Babs, and Jason home, to hold down the fort. He himself wouldn’t leave, not until he saw Black wake up. Not until Dick woke up.

One bright sunday morning, Starfire was in the med lab, watching Andy Stanley on the small tv. She had been talking to him, reading, and watching tv, anything to stimulate brain activity. Yet so far, nothing was working.

" _There will be very few occasions when you are absolutely certain about anything. You will consistently be called upon to make decisions with limited information. That being the case, your goal should not be to eliminate uncertainty. Instead, you must develop the art of being clear in the face of uncertainty.”_

Starfire was so in tune with the message, she did not notice when Black opened his eyes. Only when he had been laying there for a few moments did he make any movements. He sighed.

Starfire immediately was upon him. “Black! You are alright! Oh thank the heavens!”

He looked at her puzzled. “Black? What are you talking about Star? It’s me, Robin.” His voice was rough from unuse. “Where am I? What happened?”

Starfire’s eyes went wide as she stood up. “I-I must go get the others! Sit tight Robin! Everything is the a-okay!” She cheered. She then gave him a peck on the cheek and zipped out of the room.

Robin turned his head to look at his reflection in the window. “So Black, it’s not too hard to share now, is it?” He laughed. 

It was good to be back. 

 


End file.
